Canada's main stock index climbed on Monday from five-week lows, led by gains in financial stocks, as reports of trade war worries between China and the United States cooled.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index leaped 104.32 points to open a short week at 15,328.06
The Canadian dollar gained 0.29 cents at 77.61 cents U.S.
Markets in North America will be closed for Good Friday
Barrick Gold cut the 2017 compensation for its top two executives to reflect a challenging "shareholder experience" and operations at some mines.
Barrick shares gained 15 cents to $16.27.
CIBC cuts target price on AGF Management to $8 from $8.50, saying that market volatility may override the company's first-quarter results.
AGF shares took on five cents to $6.58.
Barclays raised the price target on Dollarama to $154.00 from $151.00, stating that the company continues to represent a simple, visible and (most importantly) low-risk growth story to investors, especially in today’s quickly changing retail environment. Dollarama shares declined 35 cents to $151.47.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 3.06 points to 820.86
All 12 TSX subgroups were positive to start out Monday, as information technology popped 1.4%, while consumer discretionary and industrials each gained 0.9%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded sharply higher on Monday, bouncing back from strong losses in the previous session, as trade tensions between the U.S. and China appear to ease.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked 433.94 points, or 1.8%, to begin Monday at 23,967.14, with Microsoft as the best-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 restored 44.28 points, or 1.7%, to 2,632.54, with technology and financials leading all sectors higher.
The NASDAQ composite Index regained 129.98 points, or 1.9%, to 7,122.65
Social media firms continue to be under the radar, as abuse of people's data remains a key topic of discussion. Last week, reports emerged alleging that Cambridge Analytica, an analytics company, had gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without the permission of its users.
While Facebook have since come out to apologize and try to rectify the matter, concerns remain. Facebook shares dropped 1.6% and briefly dipped into bear market territory.
The Financial Times reported China has offered to buy more semiconductors from the U.S. to help cut its trade surplus with the U.S. The Wall Street Journal also reported that U.S. and Chinese officials are working to improve U.S. access to China's markets.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped off slightly, raising yields to 2.84% from Friday’s 2.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked 25 cents a barrel to $65.63 U.S.
Gold prices strengthened $3.30 to $1,353.20 U.S. an ounce.
