The Toronto stock market registered a modest gain Monday, with strength coming primarily from the gold sector as investors nervous about the debt impasse in Washington bid bullion prices higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved higher 40.23 to greet noon at 12,798.88
The Canadian dollar slid 0.09 cents to 97.02 cents U.S.
The gold sector was the leading TSX advancer, as investors looking for safety pushed December bullion ahead.
Iamgold gained seven cents to $4.70.
Allied Nevada Gold surged 69 cents, or 17.7%, to $4.60 after the miner reported record gold production and sales in the third quarter. Its Hycroft mine turned out 52,198 ounces of gold.
Rio Alto Mining shot up 14 cents, or 7.7%, to $1.95 as it reported a record 59,157 ounces of gold production in the third quarter.
The tech sector was also supportive as shares in BlackBerry were up 33 cents, or 4.2% to $8.21 on the TSX. Reuters reported Friday that the smartphone maker is in talks with Cisco Systems, Google and SAP about selling them all or parts of itself.
The report came almost two weeks after BlackBerry's biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings, offered to take the company private in a deal worth about $4.7 billion.
Elsewhere in the sector, CGI Group gained 33 cents to $36.97.
Worries about the economic fallout of the shutdown and reaching the debt ceiling pushed December copper two cents lower to $3.28 U.S. a pound. The base metals sector lost ground and Lundin Mining shed five cents to $4.50.
The energy sector was slightly higher while Canadian Natural Resources gained 33 cents to $32.51.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said municipalities issued building permits worth $6.3 billion in August, down 21.2% from July. This decline followed a 21.4% increase the previous month and was the result of lower construction intentions in both non-residential and residential sectors. Market call was for a reading of negative 7.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 6.16 points to sit midday at 949.20
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by lunch hour, led by gold, up 1.5%, while information technology and materials each surged 0.8%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by global base metals, slipping 0.6%, while the metals and mining sector and utilities each shed 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The debt deadlock is finally starting to rattle investors.
The Dow Jones Industrials descended 73.44 points to stop for lunch at 14,999.10
The S&P 500 index lost 6.36 points to 1,684.14. The NASDAQ subtracted 21.10 points to 3,786.65
The first corporate results for the third quarter come out Tuesday, when aluminum maker Alcoa reports after the market close. Two of the biggest banks -- Dow component JPMorgan Chase andWells Fargo report Friday morning.
Analysts fear that weak third-quarter earnings could also weigh on stock prices.
Shares of Apple rose, after the iPhone maker was upgraded by Jefferies.
Shares of BlackBerry gained 4% on rumors that new buyers are emerging for the troubled smartphone maker.
Bank stocks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, dropped roughly 1%.
During the first six days of the government shutdown, investors had a relatively blase attitude toward the drama in Washington.
Now, as Congress is pushing the United States closer and closer to breaching its debt ceiling and possibly forcing the government into its first default, investors are getting scared.
The government shutdown is in day seven, and lawmakers appear no closer to resolving the impasse. That's forced investors to consider what that could mean for the markets and the global economy.
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that Congress was "playing with fire," and warned the U.S. could default in just over a week.
Analysts have started sounding alarm bells.
Last week, Bank of America analysts said that the government shutdown wouldn't impact fourth-quarter GDP growth. But over the weekend, they changed their tune and lowered growth estimates for the fourth quarter to 2% from 2.5%.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury remained positive, lowering yields to 2.62% from Friday’s 2.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 40 cents to $103.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $14.60 at $1,324.50 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
