Markets in Toronto managed to hold onto the momentum with which they started out Monday, as optimism over central banks’ readiness to deal with the global economy worked its way into the proceedings.
The S&P/TSX composite index took on 52.73 points to end Monday at 12,370.19
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.14 cents Monday afternoon to 101.77 cents U.S.
Energy stocks paced the rally Monday, with Advantage Oil and Gas climbing 5.2% to $3.87. Canadian Natural Resources leaped 2% to $30.92, and Imperial Oil gained 30 cents, or 0.7%, to $45.50.
Health-care issues were also stronger, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals climbing 85 cents, or 1.6%, to $55.11
Consumer staples also galloped, with shares in Shoppers Drug Mart taking on 67 cents, or 1.6%, to $41.60.
Industrials were more prosperous Monday, as Stantec Inc. jumped $1.23, or 3.7%, to $34.73.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said its Industrial Product Price Index edged down 0.1% in August from July, due mostly to lower prices for motor vehicles and other transportation equipment.
The agency’s Raw Materials Price Index rose 3.4% in August, mostly because of higher prices for mineral fuels, specifically crude oil.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 4.19 points to 1,338.70
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day, led by the energy sector, up 1%, while health-care gained 0.8%, and consumer staples led Friday’s close by 0.5%.
The two laggards were real-estate, down 0.6%, and the metals and mining group, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
A rally on Wall Street lost steam Monday afternoon following comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
The Dow Jones Industrial average still finished positive by 77.98 points to end the quarter’s first session at 13,515.10
The S&P 500 gained 3.78 points to 1,444.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq actually backpedaled 2.70 points to 3,113.53
Financial stocks remained solidly higher. Shares of Goldman Sachs were up almost 3%, while Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase rose nearly 2%.
Shares of Netflix rose after a well-known hedge fund manager said that the company is due for an Amazon-style ride over the next decade. Speaking at the Value Investing Congress in New York Monday, the same expert also made a case for Berkshire Hathaway, which he also touted at last year's conference.
Shares of Ceradyne surged 43% after 3M announced it would buy the ceramic components maker for $860 million U.S.
Nokia shares gained ground on news the mobile phone maker signed a mapping service deal with Oracle.
The Fed chief said the economy "simply has not been growing fast enough recently to make significant progress in bringing down unemployment." The unemployment rate has been stuck just above 8% since the start of the year.
On the economic calendar, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, a survey of purchasing managers, came in at 51.5 for September, marking the first expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector in four months.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.62% from Friday’s 1.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on six cents to $92.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $9.40 to settle at $1,783.40 U.S. an ounce.
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