Stocks remained fairly static in Canada’s largest market midday Monday led by gains for the materials group and for Rogers Communications Inc after it named a new chief executive officer, while financials and energy also gained ground.
The S&P/TSX Composite inched up 3.88 points to greet noon at 14,588.87.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.03 cents to 76.13 cents U.S.
The Chief Executive of Rogers, Guy Laurence, is stepping down effective immediately and will be replaced by former Telus Corp executive Joe Natale as soon as possible, the Canadian telecom company said.
The surprise move came as Rogers also posted a sharp fall in net income after it shut down the streaming television joint venture Shomi. Its shares rose 1.4% to $55.11.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength as Teck Resources rose 4% to $25.65, while Barrick Gold was up 0.8% at $20.77.
Among industrials, Canadian National Railway fell 0.4% to $86.83, while health-care giant Valeant Pharmaceutical International was down 1.9% at $28.58.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $12.7 billion in August, led by acquisitions of Canadian bonds on the secondary market.
At the same time, the agency says, Canadian investment in foreign securities slowed to $1.6 billion. This resulted in a net inflow of funds of $11.1 billion into the Canadian economy in the month
ON BAY STREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 0.39 points to 773.41
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, as gold moved upwards 1.2%, materials took on 0.8%, and utilities strengthened 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.5%, while energy and health-care surrendered 0.4% each.
ON WALL STREET
U.S. stocks held slightly lower on Monday as investors digested a number of corporate results and key economic data while keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials staggered 35.95 points to 18,102.43, with Merck leading decliners and IBM the top advancer.
The S&P 500 slid 3.33 points to 2,129.65, with energy leading five sectors lower and utilities leading risers.
The NASDAQ composite index dropped 2.96 points to 5,211.20, as shares of Apple dropped 0.4%.
Banking giant Bank of America and toymaker Hasbro were among the firms reporting quarterly earnings before the bell. Both firms beat Wall Street estimates.
IBM and Netflix are among the companies scheduled to release results after the close on Monday.
Earnings season has gotten off to a good start. Experts say that, of the 34 S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Friday morning, 79% had beaten Wall Street estimates for earnings per share.
Last week, banking giants JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all reported better-than-expected profits and sales.
Investors also digested industrial production data, which showed a 0.1% increase in September, slightly below a consensus estimate of 0.2%. Meanwhile, the New York Fed's Empire State business conditions showed manufacturing in the state contracted for the third straight month.
Overseas, Chinese gross domestic product, retail sales and industrial profits are all scheduled for release on Wednesday. Last week,
U.S. stocks were weighed down by a surprise fall in Chinese exports.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.78% from Friday’s 1.8%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were down 88 cents at $49.47 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices nosed higher 40 cents to $1,255.90 U.S. an ounce.
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