Stocks in Canada’s financial centre opened higher on Monday, led by gains in financial shares and as Bank of Canada chief showed comfort with inflation running above the central bank’s 2% target.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 28.51 points to open the week at 15,512.83
The Canadian dollar backtracked 1.01 cents to 77.95 cents U.S.
Canadian gaming company Stars Group Inc said on Saturday it had agreed to buy Sky Betting and Gaming from CVC Capital Partners and Sky PLC, in a deal worth $4.7 billion.
Stars stocks ballooned $3.81, or 10.2%, to $41.17.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on Goldcorp Inc. to buy from hold. Goldcorp shares were unchanged at $18.24.
CIBC raised the target price on Transcontinental Inc. to $34.00 from $30.00. Transcontinental shares inched up three cents to $26.81.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade in Canada backtracked 0.8% to $62.8 billion in February, the largest downward movement and the second monthly drop since September 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 0.28 points to 804.68
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, as industrials gained 0.8%, consumer discretionary stocks pumped 0.7%, and financials hiked 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by 0.9%, and energy, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded little changed on Monday as a rise in interest rates capped gains for the major indexes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 1.66 points to 24,461.28, with Merck as the best-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.2 points to 2,670.34, with utilities as the best-performing sector.
The NASDAQ Composite index docked 1.37 points to 7,144.76
Wall Street also braced for the busiest week of the earnings season. More than 170 companies are expected to have released their quarterly results by the end of the week, including Alphabet, 3M, Amazon and Chevron.
Hasbro, Halliburton and Alaska Air all posted quarterly results before the bell Monday. Shares of Hasbro fell more than 4% after its earnings and sales fell short of estimates. Halliburton's quarterly profit matched analyst expectations, while its revenue missed. Alaska Air reported a stronger-than-expected profit but disappointing revenue.
Overall, this earnings season has been strong thus far. More than 82% of S&P 500 companies that have reported through Monday morning have topped earnings estimates
Elsewhere in corporate news, shares of Merck rose 2% after an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. Analysts at the investment bank said the Dow member's sales could boom because of Keytruda, a blockbuster drug used to treat lung cancer.
Caterpillar climbed 1.5% after Citi raised its rating on the Dow component, citing a construction rebound in China. Citi also points to positive estimate revisions and increased capital returns as reasons for the upgrade.
Lululemon slipped 2.3% after Needham said it faces headwinds from strong year-over-year sales comparisons moving forward.
The 10-year Treasury note yield hit a high of 2.99%, threatening once again to reach 3%. The benchmark rate last traded at 3% or higher in January 2014. Investors have been selling Treasurys this month — pushing yields higher — amid expectations of rising inflation, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy at a faster pace.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped, raising yields to 2.98% from Friday’s 2.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid $1.11 a barrel to $67.29 U.S.
Gold prices fell $12.30 to $1,326.00 U.S. an ounce.
