The Toronto stock market was up slightly following a solid gain from last week amid Chinese economic reform announcements and hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve won't reduce its key monetary stimulus soon.
The S&P/TSX composite index picked up 11.61 points Monday to reach midday at 13,494.18
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.10 cents to 95.91 cents U.S.
The gold sector led decliners, as Kinross Gold lost nine cents to $5.25.
The base metals component shed some of its strength with December copper down a cent at $3.17 U.S. a pound. Sherritt International climbed five cents to $3.50.
Mining promoter Robert Friedland has released a preliminary economic assessment for a major Congolese copper discovery that he says could be one of the world's lowest-cost producers. The study estimates cash costs of producing copper at the mine at $1.18 U.S. per pound. The December copper contract currently stands at $3.16 U.S. a pound.
The Kamoa project in Democratic Republic of Congo is being developed under Ivanhoe Mines Inc., a company that Friedland leads. Ivanhoe shares ran ahead six cents to $2.18.
Financials led advancers with Sun Life Financial gaining 60 cents to $37.49.
Fairfax Financial Holdings has signed a deal to buy 51% of the company that operates the Keg steakhouse chain restaurants for an undisclosed sum.
Keg Restaurants Ltd. pays a royalty on sales to Keg Royalties Income Fund which holds trademarks and other intellectual property used by the restaurant chain. Fairfax stock slipped $3.58 to $424.27 while Keg units jumped 64 cents or nearly 4% to $16.80.
Corporate earnings reports for the third quarter have slowed considerably but traders will still take in reports this week from retailer Sears Canada and food company George Weston on Tuesday, specialty drug company Paladin Labs on Wednesday and Gildan Active Wear on Thursday.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that international transactions in Canadian securities hiked to $8.4 billion in September, while we reduced our holdings in offshore investment instruments by $1.5 million.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange 5.37 points to 926.70
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower at noon hour, weighed mostly by gold, down 2%, while materials suffered 1%, and energy moved downward 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by financials, up 0.7%, industrials, ahead 0.4%, and information technology, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average topped 16,000 for the first time ever Monday, while the S&P 500 surpassed 1,800.
The Dow gained 45.75 points from Friday’s all-time high close, to 16,007.50
The S&P 500 index eked up 1.14 points to 1,799.32, after briefly surpassing 1,800. The NASDAQ eased 1.27 points to 3,984.70
The Dow rose slightly in late morning trading and is up more than 20% so far this year. The S&P 500 was also up and has soared more than 25% in 2013. The NASDAQ is on the verge of a milestone too. The tech-heavy index was flat Monday but is nearing 4,000, a level it hasn't hit since September 2000 -- just months after the tech market collapsed.
Boeing shares rose Monday after the aircraft maker said it sold more than $95 billion U.S. of its new 777X at the Dubai air show. Boeing said it was a record launch for a new aircraft and was far more than analysts had been forecasting. Boeing has been the biggest gainer in the Dow this year, soaring more than 85%.
Sony shares rose after the company said it sold more than one million units of its new PlayStation 4 gaming console in the first 24 hours since the game console went on sale early Friday. The game system is Sony's first in seven years and is going head-to-head with Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One this holiday season. Shares of Microsoft slipped.
While stocks continued to soar, so did Bitcoin. The price of the digital currency touched an all-time high above $600 U.S. earlier Monday, up almost 20% from Friday's closing price of $528.32 U.S.
Since the start of October, the price of Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in value.
The latest surge has been fueled by the interest of new investors, especially those in China, who are becoming increasingly optimistic about the digital currency's potential growth.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher, lowering yields to 2.68% from Friday’s 2.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 16 cents to $94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shed $13.80 to $1,273.60 U.S. an ounce.
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