Gains in energy shares helped Canada's main stock index kick off the final quarter of the year on a positive note as investors looked to overcome their anxiety about a global recession, triggered by aggressive central bank actions to curb inflation.
The TSX Composite continued positive by noon EDT Monday 406.32 points, or 2.2%, to 18,850.54.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.78 cents to 73.31 cents U.S.
Energy issues ruled the index, as Nuvista climbed 67 cents, or 6.8%, to $10.48, while Precision Drilling jumped $4.65, or 6.7%, to $74.58.
Saputo fell 63 cents, or 1.9%, to $32.30,
after Scotiabank downgraded the Canadian dairy firm's stock to sector perform from outperform.
On the economic slate, the Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI in Canada increased to 49.8 points in September from 48.7 points in August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange popped 7.93 points, or 1.3%, to 602.06.
All 12 TSX subgroups kept flying by midday, with energy towering 5.1% over Friday’s close, while industrials jumped 2.3%, and materials muscled up 2.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied Monday to start the new month and quarter, as Treasury yields eased from levels not seen in roughly a decade.
The Dow Jones Industrials galloped 591.36 points, or 2.1%, to 29,316.87.
The S&P 500 soared 64.62 points, or 1.8%, to 3,650.24.
The NASDAQ Composite ascended 137 points, or 1.3%, to 10,712.62.
Shares of Viasat jumped 39% on Monday morning after defense contractor L3 Harris announced a deal to acquire the communications company’s tactical data links business. The deal is for just under $2 billion, the companies announced.
Energy stocks were the top gainers in the S&P 500 Monday morning as oil price jumped, after they’d been slumping since June. The sector was higher by 4.6%.
Marathon Oil gained about 7%. APA Corp., Devon Energy and Halliburton rose about 6% each. Diamondback Energy, Conocophillips and Occidental advanced by about 5% each.
Wall Street is coming off a tough month, with the Dow and S&P 500 notching their biggest monthly losses since March 2020. The Dow on Friday also closed below 29,000 for the first time since November 2020.
The Dow shed 8.8% in September, while the S&P 500 dipped 9.3% and NASDAQ lost 10.5%.
For the quarter, the Dow fell 6.66% to notch a three-quarter losing streak for the first time since the third quarter of 2015. The S&P discarded 5.3%, and NASDAQ fell 4.11%, to finish their third consecutive negative quarter for the first time since 2009.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its manufacturing PMI fell to 50.9 in September from 52.8 in August — barely in expansion territory. A print below 50 indicates contraction, and one above that level points to an expansion.
Treasury prices spiked, lowering yields to 3.62% from Friday’s 3.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices gushed $3.31 to $82.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $28.70 to $1,700.70 U.S. an ounce.
Stocks Perk to Begin October
