Equities in Toronto followed the lead of cannabis stocks Monday and hurtled upward to begin the week, as tech and energy issues were also positive.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 96.01 points to conclude Monday at 15,602.32
The Canadian dollar erased 0.09 cents to 76.24 cents U.S.
Among the biggest percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of cannabis firms Aphria, which surged $1.34, or 10.6%, to $13.93, and Cronos Group, which rose $2.72, or nearly 10%, to $30.03
In the tech sector, Shopify celebrated a jump of $1.89, or 4.2%, to $227.47, while BlackBerry acquired 19 cents, or 1.8%, to $10.78.
In the energy sector, Enbridge leaped 61 cents, or 1.3%, to $49.00, while Suncor popped 98 cents, or 2.3%, to $43.35.
Industrials took some knocks, though, as Bombardier relinquished a nickel, or 2.5%, to $1.92, while Canadian National Railways lost 16 cents to $108.84.
Another among the big decliners was gold miner OceanaGold Corp , down 30 cents, or 6.3%, to $4.36.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.4 points to 625.26
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as health-care muscled up 4.4%, while information technology clicked 1.5% higher, and energy gushed 1.1%,
Only gold, hesitating 0.03%, and industrials, down 0.1%, missed the festivities.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Monday, led by tech shares, as investors awaited key corporate earnings from companies like Alphabet.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average thundered ahead 175.48 points to 25,239.37, as Microsoft and Apple outperformed.
The S&P 500 recouped 18.34 points to 2,724.87, as the tech sector gained 1.6%
The NASDAQ Composite gained 83.67 points, or 1.2%, to 7,347.54, outperforming relative to the other major indexes.
Shares of Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet all closed at least 2% higher.
Alphabet and Gilead Sciences were scheduled to report earnings after the close Monday. Disney, General Motors, Viacom and Kellogg are all slated to release their results later this week.
Shares of Clorox rose 5.6% after the company posted a better-than-expected profit. Clorox also reiterated its guidance for 2019 earnings and revenue. Sysco and Alexion Pharmaceuticals also reported stronger-than-forecast earnings. Sysco shares rose 4.8%. Alexion gained as much as 2.1% before closing 2% lower.
So far, more than 47% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results. Of those companies, 68.5% have topped analyst expectations
Earnings grew by more than 20% in the first three quarters of 2018. So far, fourth-quarter earnings are up by 12.5% on a year-over-year basis.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped sharply, raising yields to 2.72% from Friday’s 2.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 53 cents to $54.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $5.70 to $1,316.60 U.S. an ounce.
