Equities in Toronto ticked higher in early trade on Monday, boosted by gains among its heavyweight banks and other financial stocks, while the energy sector weighed with a sharp fall in crude prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 22.37 points to begin the year’s final quarter at 15,657.31
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.44 cents to 79.99 cents U.S
Metro Inc, Canada's third-biggest food retailer, said it would buy pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group for $4.5 billion.
Metro shares gathered seven cents to $42.98, while Coutu shares gained 50 cents, or 2.1%, to $24.80.
A Canadian judicial review that could overturn the federal approval of Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will begin in Vancouver. Kinder shares lost seven cents to $17.25.
U.K. Finance Minister Philip Hammond said his country would continue to lobby the United States over a trade dispute with Canadian planemaker Bombardier, but said there were limits to what it could achieve.
Bombardier dipped four cents, or 1.8%, to $2.22.
Deutsche Bank raised the price target on Blackberry Corp. to $8.25 from $7.50. BlackBerry nicked up seven cents to $14.02.
Desjardins raised the price target on Intact Financial Corp. to $100 from $98. Intact shares fell 95 cents to $102.12.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange weakened 1.88 points to 779.35
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with health-care soaring 0.9%, information technology, up 0.7%, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.4%.
The two laggards were in energy, down 1.1%, while gold shed 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities hit record highs on Monday as Wall Street kicked off the fourth quarter on a high note.
The Dow Jones Industrials catapulted 79.32 points to 22,484.41, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 picked up 7.74 points to 2,527.10, with health-care leading advancers
The NASDAQ added 27.26 points to 6,523.21
The three indexes hit all-time highs at the open, building on gains set in the previous quarter.
Stocks wrapped up the third quarter on Friday, with the Dow posting its first eight-quarter winning streak in 20 years. The index rose 4.9% last quarter, while the S&P and Nasdaq gained 3.9% and 5.8%, respectively.
Elsewhere, casino stocks fell after the Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM
Resorts International fell 1.5% 1.3% and 4.1%, respectively. The broader stock market remained higher as details of the shooting were released.
In economic news, Institute for Supply Management manufacturing data for September were set for release this morning. Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan is also scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. in New York.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, dropping yields to 2.33% from Friday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.29 a barrel to $50.38 U.S.
Gold prices fell $7.90 to $1,276.90 U.S. an ounce
