Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre inched higher in morning trade on Monday, boosted by gains for materials stocks including fertilizer companies, while gold miners moved in both directions and railway stocks weighed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tacked on but one point to settle into noon hour at 16,097.07
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.05 cents to 77.8 cents U.S.
Potash Corp was up 1.4% to $24.68 and Agrium Inc added 1.3% to $138.27 as the two fertilizer companies move closer to a merger.
Industrials fell as Canadian National Railway slipped 0.4% to $102.71.
Prometic Life Sciences Inc was up 7.1% at $1.36 after a British health regulator gave one of its drugs a promising designation.
Shopify Inc added 2.4% to $132.59 after the commerce software company was added to several S&P/TSX sub-indices.
Several gold miners advanced even as the price of bullion steadied, with Iamgold up 4% to $6.76 and Yamana Gold Inc rising 2.2% to $3.23. Kirkland Lake Gold, meanwhile, was down 3.8% at $17.24.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.59 points to 791.37
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by noon, with gold dulling in price 0.6%, while consumer discretionary and industrial stocks each dimmed 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, better by 2%, while information technology picked up 0.6%, and materials, up 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher, reversing earlier weakness following a terror incident near New York City's Times Square.
The Dow Jones industrials gained 26.16 points by noon to 24,355.32.
The S&P 500 picked up 4.81 points to 2,656.31, energy stocks were the best performers on the S&P 500, rising 0.8%, while tech gained 0.7%. A rise in crude prices gave energy a boost.
The NASDAQ gained 30.14 points to 6,870.22
In corporate news, shares of wearables maker Fitbit rose 3.8% after the company announced it a reached a settlement with Jawbone which ends all outstanding civil litigation.
Meanwhile, Spark Therapeutics shares tanked 36% after initial data on a drug aimed at treating hemophilia A disappointed investors.
A senior New York City Police Department official said that one person was in custody following the incident. Police also said the person in custody sustained a minor injury. Multiple reports say the suspect detonated what is believed to be a pipe bomb.
On the data front Monday, the main piece of economic news set to be released is the Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data.
Wall Street also looked ahead to the upcoming monetary policy meeting by the Federal Open Market Committee, to see if the central bank raises interest rates for the final time this year.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.37% from Friday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 63 cents a barrel to $57.99 U.S.
Gold prices slid 30 cents to $1,248.10 U.S. an ounce.
