Equities in Toronto rose on Monday on the weakening of Hurricane Irma overnight and North Korea refraining from a missile test to mark its 69th anniversary, with financial stocks and Tahoe Resources leading the rally.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 55.68 points to greet noon at 15,041.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.06 cents to 82.34 cents U.S.
Financials were led by Brookfield Asset Management rising 1.7% to $48.18, Fairfax Financial Holdings advancing 2.5% to $611.29.
Tahoe Resources surged 38.8% to $7.90 after a Guatemalan court reinstated the company’s license at its Juan Bosco and El Escobal mines.
But the overall materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground with most stocks leading the declines.
Alamos Gold Inc tumbled 12.9% to $8.93 after the company said it will buy smaller rival Richmont Mines in an all-stock deal valued at about $905 million.
Eldorado Gold Corp slumped 4.4% to $2.38 after the company said it was suspending its Greek mining investment, citing regulatory hurdles.
Irma pounded heavily populated areas of central Florida on Sunday, but gradually lost strength, weakening to a Category 1 hurricane overnight and is expected to weaken to a tropical storm during the day.
The United States and its allies had been bracing for another long-range missile launch for the 69th anniversary of North Korea's founding on Saturday, but its leader Kim Jong Un hosted a massive celebration instead.
Economically speaking, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in August increased compared with July. CMHC says housing starts came in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 223,232 units for August, up from 221,974 in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.38 points to 771.61
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups are up midday, with health-care advancing 1.8%, energy gained 0.9%, and information technology ahead 0.7%
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.8%, and utilities, off 0.5%, and materials sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose sharply on Monday as the damage from Hurricane Irma didn't appear to be as bad as feared.
The Dow Jones Industrials raced ahead 230.3 points, or 1.1%, to 22,028.09, with Goldman Sachs and insurer Travelers Cos. contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 hiked 23.47 points, or 1%, to 2,484.90, with information technology and financials rising more than 1% to lead all sub-groups higher.
The NASDAQ popped 65.15 points, or 1%, to 6,425.34, as large-cap technology stocks like Facebook and Apple rose.
The three indexes also turned positive for the month.
AIR Worldwide, a catastrophe modeling firm, said Monday it expects industry insured losses stemming from Hurricane Irma to range between $20 billion and $40 billion.
Shares of Travelers Cos., Progressive and American International Group rose 2.8%, 2.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
Shares of re-insurers, who could have been on the hook for extensive Florida damage because smaller insurers in the state are their customers, surged.
Everest Re Group and XL Group saw their shares soar 5% and 5.1%, respectively, and were the best performers in the S&P 500.
Hurricanes have put markets on edge over recent weeks, as investors show signs of unease when it comes to assessing the impact of these natural disasters on certain markets, including insurance and airlines.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines' stock climbed 3%, while American Airlines rose 3.4%. Carnival, a cruise line company, also saw its shares advance 2.9%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note weakened, boosting yields to 2.12% from Friday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 53 cents to $48.01
Gold prices faded 14 dollars to $1,336.90 U.S. an ounce.
