The TSX maintained its modest gains Monday, as mining stocks climbed further and telecoms cut their earlier losses.
The S&P/TSX composite index was better by 52.05 points to close Monday at 15,412.60
The Canadian dollar slid 0.13 cents to 81.77 cents U.S.
The metals and mining group led all sectors, as Teck Resources traveled 42 cents, or 2.6%, to $16.92.
In resources, the materials group rose, as First Quantum Minerals hiked $1.05, or 6.8%, to $16.60
The energy sector was up as Legacy Oil and Gas climbed 14 cents, or 5.5%, to $2.70
Other notable advancers were industrials, with Black Diamond Group up 51 cents, or 3.2% to $16.25, and financials, with RBC up 51 cents to $81.27.
On the negative side, telecoms were down, as Manitoba Telecom Services bowed 60 cents, or 2.3%, to $25.47.
Pacific Rubiales Energy was the most actively traded stock, gaining two cents to $3.86, on more than 9.2 million shares.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.8 points to 703.65
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day, as metals and mining stocks improved 2.3%, global base metals gained 1.2%, and industrials picked up 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by consumer staples, down 0.8%, telecoms, sliding 0.4%, and health-care, dipping 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Monday amid an unexpected stimulus from China's central bank as investors kept eyeing corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved higher 208.63 points, or 1.2%, to 18,034.93, led by shares of IBM.
The S&P 500 index picked up 19.22 points to 2,100.40, led by information technology and utilities. The index is now less than 1% away from its all-time intraday high of 2,119.59.
The NASDAQ index gained 62.79 points to 4,994.60. The NASDAQ led all major indexes after posting its best day since February 10, as Facebook shares soared 2.9%, their best one-day performance since February 19.
Of the 59 S&P 500 companies that had reported by last week, 75% had topped profit expectations, above the 70% average for the last four quarters, according to Thompson Reuters. However, only 45% of companies beat revenues estimates, compared with 58% in the last four quarters.
Several companies posted quarterly earnings report Monday morning, including Morgan Stanley, Hasbro, Halliburton and SunTrust.
Morgan Stanley earned an adjusted 85 cents U.S. per share, beating estimates of 78 cents U.S., with revenue also above forecasts. Morgan Stanley's results were helped in part by better than expected performance in investment management and fixed income.
Hasbro reported quarterly profit of 21 cents U.S. per share, swamping estimates of eight cents, with revenue also beating forecasts by a wide margin despite the negative impact of the strong dollar. Hasbro saw particularly strong performance in its Transformers and pre-school units. The company's shares also hit an all-time high earlier in the session.
Halliburton also beat estimates by 12 cents U.S. with adjusted quarterly profit of 49 cents U.S. per share, with revenue scoring a slight beat as well. But Halliburton does say it expects the oil sector to remain "challenged".
SunTrust earned 78 cents U.S. per share for its latest quarter, six cents above estimates, with revenue essentially in line. SunTrust was helped by lower expenses, and growth in non-interest income.
On Sunday, China's central bank lowered the reserve requirement ratio for all banks by 100 basis points.
The wider-than-expected cut was the People's Bank of China's second reduction in two months, and marks a continuing effort by the world's second-largest economy to combat slowing growth.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were slightly lower, raising yields to 1.88% from Friday’s 1.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices remained stronger 49 cents to $55.87 U.S.
Gold prices sank eight dollars to $1,195.10 U.S.
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