The Toronto stock market registered a solid gain Monday on hopes that the centre-left will be able to form a government in Italy and that Japan can escape its economic malaise.
The S&P/TSX composite index remained positive 79.61 points to reach noon at 12,781.24
The Canadian dollar faded 0.40 cents to 97.42 cents U.S., its lowest level since late June.
Most TSX sectors were positive with the gold sector leading advancers. Goldcorp Inc. rose 58 cents to $33.80.
The information technology group gained. BlackBerry was ahead 39 cents to $13.87 and MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates rose $2.31 to $68.65.
The energy sector was off the best levels of the morning as Canadian Natural Resources was up 50 cents at $30.87.
Nexen Inc., the Calgary-based oil and gas producer being taken over by a state-owned Chinese company, posted a quarterly net loss of $6 million or two cents per diluted share.
The company cited impairment charges on natural gas properties in the U.S. and Canada and costs associated with its Long Lake oilsands project. Its shares were 17 cents higher at $28.14.
The financial sector was up as traders prepared to take in quarterly earnings during this week from Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank, TD Bank and CIBC.
They’re expected to be impacted by the slowdown in the housing market. At the same time, analysts expect dividend increases from most of the banks.
The sector was up and Royal Bank was ahead 41 cents at $64.66 and TD jumped $1.46 to $85.77.
March copper gained one cent to $3.53 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector gained 0.5%. Turquoise Hill Resources gained nine cents to $6.83.
Novagold Resources Inc. says drilling has revealed a significant additional mineralized zone at the Galore Creek copper, gold and silver project in northwestern British Columbia. Novagold is developing Galore Creek through a 50-50 partnership with Teck Resources Inc, one of Canada’s largest mining companies. Novagold shares were ahead three cents to $4.10.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.27 points to 1,144.41
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were in the green by Monday’s lunch hour, led by gold, ahead 2.3%, while materials were better by 1.8% and health-care stocks garnered 1.5%.
The three laggards were global base metals, down 0.3%, utilities, subsiding 0.1%, and real-estate, sliding 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks declined, amid concern Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition will prevail in Italy’s Senate elections and move the nation away from austerity plans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 51.99 points to greet noon at 13,948.60
The S&P 500 index slid 6.41 points to 1,509.19. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite subtracted 3.74 points to 3,158.08.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. slumped 5.1% after agreeing to sell a stake in an Oklahoma oilfield to China Petrochemical Corp. for less than one-third of its estimated value.
ITT Educational Services Inc., a for-profit college that focuses on technology, tumbled 14% after disclosing that U.S. regulators subpoenaed documents related to private loan programs for its students.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the largest publicly traded U.S. auto-rental chain, gained 6.2% after projecting profit and sales that beat estimates.
CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures exchange, has approached Deutsche Boerse AG to consider beginning talks on a merger, according to four people familiar with the situation.
A combination of Chicago-based CME and Deutsche Boerse would unite the biggest futures exchanges in the U.S. and European markets. CME shares have rallied 15% this year, giving it a market capitalization of $19.4 billion U.S. Deutsche Boerse climbed 1% through Feb. 22, bringing its value to nine billion euros ($11.9 billion U.S).
Japanese media reports say that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to nominate an advocate of aggressive monetary easing to head the Bank of Japan. The yen fell to the lowest point against the U.S. dollar since May 2010.
However, in Italy, late Sunday polls showed centre-left candidate Pier Luigi Bersani on track to defeat controversial three-time Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and ex-comedian Beppe Grillo, who is leading an anti-establishment movement. A second round of ballots was being counted Monday, and U.S. stocks erased gains as an IPR projection of partial results from the Italian ministry suggested Pier Luigi Bersani may have lost Senate races in Sicily and Campania to Berlusconi.
Markets could react badly if Berlusconi, who has promised to undo some austerity measures, or Grillo were to win, as it would raise new doubts about the future of the euro.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury regained ground, dropping yields to 1.93% from Friday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 21 cents to $93.34 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $18.10 to $1,590.60 U.S. an ounce.
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