Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre rose on Monday, led by gains in heavyweight banking and energy stocks, as oil prices edged higher on heightened tensions after Friday's deadly attacks in Paris.
The S&P/TSX composite index progressed 78.4 points to greet noon at 13,153.82.
The Canadian dollar dwindled 0.19 cents at 74.86 cents U.S.
The most influential gainers on the index were Bank of Nova Scotia, which rose 0.7% to $59.43, and Canadian National Railway, which added 0.7% to $76.96.
Suncor Energy Inc rose 1% to $37.31, and Enbridge Inc advanced 1.3% to $48.86. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd added 1% to $31.86.
The most influential weights were Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, which fell 2.8% to $97.67, and First Quantum Minerals Ltd, which declined 3.6% to $5.03.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $6.2 billion in September, all non-U.S. foreign instruments. At the same time, foreign investors purchased $3.3 billion of Canadian securities, most of them equities.
What’s more, the agency reported that manufacturing sales declined 1.5% to $51.1 billion in September.
Lastly, the Canadian Real Estate Association said national home sales rose by 1.8% from September to October. Actual activity was little changed from October 2014. The number of newly listed homes was up 0.9% from September to October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 0.79 points to 524.72
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, led by consumer staples, charging ahead 1.9%, telecoms, clicking 1.7% higher, and information technology, stronger 1%.
The two laggards were metals and mining, down 2%, while real-estate subsided 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a range Monday, helped by some gains in defensive sectors, following terror attacks in Paris over the weekend.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 93.7 points midday to 17,338.94, with Chevron leading advancers and Pfizer the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 climbed 6.92 points to 2,029.96. Telecommunications, utilities and consumer staples led advancers in the S&P 500.
The NASDAQ index remained negative 4.48 points to 4,923.40, as Apple gained nearly 1%. Amazon briefly fell 2%.
Futures gave up earlier attempts at gains after the November Empire Manufacturing index came in at minus 10.7 for a fourth-straight month of contraction.
No other major economic data is due Monday. The key report for the week is the Federal Reserve meeting minutes due out Wednesday.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher, dropping yields to 2.26% from Friday’s 2.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped five cents a barrel to $40.69 U.S.
Gold prices gained $2.16 to $1,086.07 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
