Stocks again straddled the breakeven line Monday, as gains for tech and health-care issues were counterbalanced by losses in energy
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stayed afloat 8.7 points to close Monday at 16,052.24
The Canadian dollar inched forward 0.04 cents at 77.31 cents U.S.
Tech stocks proved the champion of the day, as BlackBerry gained 26 cents, or 1.7%, to $15.33, while Constellation Software gained $6.22 to $1,032.06.
Health-care stocks starred, too, as Aphria Inc. gained 10 cents to $11.88, while Aurora Cannabis gained seven cents to $8.13
In the discretionary sector, Gildan Activewear gathered 57 cents, or 1.3%, to $38.02, while Magna International grew 72 cents to $84.22.
The energy sector took a beating, as Tahoe Resources fell 52 cents, or 7.3%, to $6.61. Imperial Oil lost 55 cents, or 1.3%, to $41.84.
Gold were also in a bad way, as Goldcorp shed 33 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.91, while Barrick Gold dropped 29 cents, or 1.7%, to $16.65.
In materials, Agnico Eagle Mines stepped back 51 cents to $57.41, while Teck Resources faded nine cents to $35.52.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture slumped 4.18 points to 761.76
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher as the trading day wound down thanks to strength in information technology, up 1.3%, while health-care and consumer discretionary stocks each surged 1.2%
The four laggards were weighed mostly by energy, tailing off 2.1%, while gold dulled in price 0.6%, and materials were off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite posted a record close on Monday, led by shares of Apple and Amazon.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 178.48 points to 24,813.69,
The S&P 500 stayed positive 12.25 points to 2,746.87, as tech closed at a record high.
The NASDAQ gained 52.13 points to 7,606.46, as Apple picked up 0.8%, and Amazon gained 1.5%. Apple and Amazon also posted record closing highs.
Microsoft also helped lift the NASDAQ, rising 0.9% to a record after announcing it was acquiring GitHub, a software developer platform, for $7.5 billion. Other tech names hitting all-time highs on Monday included Adobe, Electronic Arts and Netflix.
A rise in retail stocks also boosted the major indexes. Wal-Mart increased 2.9% and Target rose 4.9%.
Leaders from seven of the largest economies in the world are set to meet in Canada this week at a time when trade tensions between the U.S. and key trade partners have increased.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, raising yields to 2.94% from Friday’s 2.9%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 91 cents at $64.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $3.20 to $1,296.10 U.S. an ounce.
