Equities in Canada’s largest market rallied in the first hour on Monday, led by financial and industrial shares after news that the U.S. Senate passed its version of a tax overhaul bill boosted investor sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 28.51 to begin the day and the week at 16,038.97
The Canadian dollar surged 1.23 cents to 78.78 cents U.S.
Hudson's Bay Co said on Friday it reached an agreement with shareholder Land & Buildings, under which the activist investor would withdraw its appeal against the conditional approval given for an investment by Rhone Capital.
Bay shares took on 20 cents, or 1.8%, to $11.66.
TransCanada Corp has raised some rates for committed and spot shippers on its Keystone crude oil pipeline effective from Jan. 1, according to a filing with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday.
TransCanada shares docked 25 cents to $61.41.
Credit Suisse cut the rating on Lundin Mining to neutral. Lundin Mining shares fell 13 cents, or 1.8%, to $7.09.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on BRP to $56.00 from $51.00. BRP shares gained 21 cents to $47.89.
Desjardins raised the target price on National Bank of Canada to $64.00 from $62.00, National shares surged 25 cents to $63.96.
CIBC raised the price target on New Flyer Industries to $60.00 from $59.00. New Flyer shares, well, flew $1.40, or 2.9%, to $50.35.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.74 points to 792.74
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher to start out Monday, as health-care shares were 0.9% haler, industrials advanced 0.6%, and financials took on 0.5%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling in price 0.9%, information technology, ticking 0.5% lower, and energy, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded sharply higher on Monday as investor sentiment was boosted the Senate narrowly passing a major tax bill over the weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrials triumphed 276.42 points, or 1.1%, to begin the session at 24,508.01, scant days since shattering the 24K mark for the first time.
Boeing and Walt Disney led advancers on the 30-stock index, which also hit a record high.
The S&P 500 regrouped 17.01 points to 2,659.23, with financials and industrials as the best-performing sectors, rallying 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively. The index also reached an all-time high.
The NASDAQ Composite lost 9.93 points, however, to 6,837.66, as Facebook, Alphabet and Netflix all traded lower.
Among banks, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and JPMorgan all rose at least 1%
Shifting to corporate news, CVS Health said it will buy Aetna, a U.S. health insurer, for $69 billion. The agreement is seen as one of 2017's biggest deals so far in the merger and acquisition (M&A) space. CVS shares slipped 3.4%, while Aetna rose 1.7%
The Wall Street Journal also reported that a deal by Disney to buy some of 21st Century Fox's assets is "gaining momentum," despite speculation that the conversation between the two parties had cooled off. Disney shares rose 2.7%, while Fox shares gained 2.1%.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, Senate Republicans managed to narrowly pass a bill to revamp the country's tax system. The final vote came out as 51-49 in favour, after Republicans had to rework the bill late on Thursday.
The GOP, however, still need to overcome future obstacles in order for the Senate and the House to craft a joint bill, which will then be presented to President Donald Trump. Republicans hope a deal will be achieved by Christmas.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sagged, raising yields to 2.39% from Friday’s 2.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 71 cents a barrel to $57.65 U.S.
Gold prices skidded $5.30 to $1,277.00 U.S. an ounce.
