The Toronto stock market registered a small gain Monday afternoon, with traders not inclined to do much after worries about the pace of economic growth last week erased all the TSX’s gains since the beginning of the year.
The S&P/TSX index moved higher 12.71 points to end Monday at 12,344.56
The Canadian dollar gained 0.08 cents at 98.30 cents U.S.
The energy sector was ahead as Canadian Natural Resources climbed six cents to $31.09.
The TSX found relief from a rise in the telecom sector as Rogers Communications rose 92 cents to $51.77.
Industrials also put in a strong showing as Canadian Pacific Railway gained $2.10 to $124.92.
Bombardier Transportation has been granted a $440-million U.S. contract to design and supply major components for the next generation ICx high speed trains for Deutsche Bahn AG. Shares in parent Bombardier Inc. gained nine cents to $4.02.
Commodity prices were generally higher after losing ground last week.
The gold sector was down as Goldcorp Inc. was down 48 cents to $31.85.
The base metals component was down while May copper gained three cents to $3.37 U.S. a pound after miners in Chile, the world’s biggest producer, said they would announce a nationwide strike on Monday.
Economic worries sent copper to eight month lows last week and the mining sector down. First Quantum Minerals gave back 34 cents to $18.95.
Enbridge Inc. and a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles have teamed up to buy the Blackspring Ridge wind generation project near Lethbridge, Alta., on a 50-50 basis from Greengate Power Corp. Financial details of the transactions weren’t disclosed in Monday’s announcement.
When completed, the Blackspring project will have 166 turbines, making it the biggest wind power project in Western Canada. Enbridge shares rose 31 cents to $45.61.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 0.46 points to 1,041.39
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups reversed course and moved higher by the bell, led by real-estate, up 1%, utilities, ahead 0.8%, and telecoms, gaining 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 1.5%, materials, fading 0.6%, and information technology, dipping 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks cut their losses and turned higher Monday afternoon, rebounding from one of their worst weeks of the year. But the gains remained slim as investors gear up for the start of earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished the session up 48.23 points, to 14,613.50
The S&P 500 index gained 8.06 points to 1,561.34. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite strengthened 18.39 points to 3,222.25
Investors will be shifting gears this week to first-quarter earnings.
Aluminum producer Alcoa will unofficially kick things off with its quarterly report after the closing bell. The Dow component is expected to post a profit decline due to weak aluminum prices. JPMorgan Chase, on tap for Friday, is the first of the big banks to report.
Overall, analysts are forecasting first-quarter earnings to grow 1.5% compared with a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters.
General Electric said it planned to buy energy company Lufkin Industries for $3.3 billion U.S. Shares of Lufkin, which builds and maintains equipment for oil and gas wells, surged nearly 40%.
Anheuser-Busche InBev's proposed $20-billion U.S. acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo appears to be back on track after the companies, along with Constellation Brands and Crown Imports, said they'd reached an agreement that would settle the Justice Department's objections to the deal.
Shares of Biocryst Pharmaceutical surged after China's Food and Drug Administration expedited the approval of the company's anti-influenza medicine Peramivir amid a bird flu outbreak.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 1.73% from Friday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced 50 cents to $93.46 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $3.50 to $1,572.90 U.S. an ounce.
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