A major acquisition in the health-care sector helped give the Toronto stock market a boost in morning trading Monday.
The S&P/TSX composite index approached noon Monday up 31 points to 12,698.22
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.2 cents to 96.82 cents U.S., amid mixed commodity prices and traders looked to the Bank of Canada's latest announcement on interest rates.
The Bank of Canada makes its next announcement Wednesday, the last such word on rates from outgoing central bank governor Mark Carney. Analysts expect the bank will leave its key rate unchanged.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals confirmed that it plans to expand its eye-care business by buying Bausch and Lomb for $8.7 billion U.S. in cash.
The Montreal-area company will finance the deal by issuing up to $2 million of new equity, with the remainder paid for with debt.
Valeant stock was up $5.98, or 6.9%, to $93 after earlier hitting an all-time high of $95. Its shares had risen 13% on Friday on speculation the deal was set to go through.
Barrick Gold Corp. gained 24 cents to $19.93. The stock fell 2% Friday on news that an environmental regulator in Chile has stopped construction and imposed sanctions on the miner's $8.5-billion Pascua-Lama project, citing "serious violations" of its environmental permit.
The base metals sector was slightly higher while July copper added a penny to $3.31 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources gathered 13 cents to $28.22.
The energy sector slipped as concerns about global energy demand sent the July crude contract down. Among energy plays in Toronto, Enerflex docked 25 cents, or 1.8%, to $13.35, while Imperial Oil shed two cents to $40.03.
Consumer staples also weighed on the TSX with grocer Metro Inc. down 81 cents to $69.29.
There was no economic news due out today.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange accumulated 2.84 points to 951.16
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained strength by noon ET, led by health-care stocks, up 3.1%, information technology, up 0.9%, and materials, stronger by 0.8%.
The three subgroups that missed the party were consumer staples, sliding 0.3%, consumer discretionaries, down 0.1%, and energy, docking 0.03%.
Oil prices faded 57 cents to $93.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stayed positive $5.60 at $1,392.20 U.S. an ounce
ON WALLSTREET
American markets are closed in honour of Memorial Day
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