Canada's main stock index edged lower Monday as weakness in gold producers was offset by gains in marijuana stocks with shares of Canopy Growth Corporation hitting a fresh 52 week high.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 31.79 points Monday to 16,317.65.
Sharp gains for cannabis stocks helped the healthcare sector rise to its highest since January 2016. Canopy Growth Corp rose 17.2 percent to $39.86 and Aphria Inc was up 14.8 percent at $21.02.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.015 cents to 80.53 cents U.S.
In corporate news -- Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) said on Monday it would take a hit of $400 million in the first quarter related to the remeasurement of certain net deferred tax assets as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax reforms.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is raising its sales and earnings guidance for its fourth quarter. The retailer says it now expects net revenue will be in the range of $905 million to $915 million for the quarter based on a total comparable sales increase in the high single digits on a constant dollar basis.
CIBC has signed a deal to acquire Wellington Financial as part of its plan to grow its business in the fast-moving technology sector. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available. The specialty finance firm will become part of CIBC Innovation Banking, a new business for the big bank (CM.TO) focused on providing strategic advice and funding to technology sector clients.
Oil prices strengthened, ending higher on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, rose 0.13% to $61.52 a barrel.
Gold prices on Monday notched their first decline in a dozen sessions to end a record streak of gains. February gold fell by $1.90, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,320.40 an ounce.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rose 25.33 points, or 2.83%, to 921.04.
Five of the TSX subgroups traded positive Monday -- with health-care issues up 6.59%, base metal stocks ahead by 1.09% and real estate issues up 0.44%.
On the downside -- gold stocks were off 0.92%, while material issues backtracked 0.74% and financials shed 0.31%.
Advancers on the TSX led decliners 907 to 739 with 256 issues unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at records on Monday as gains in energy and industrials helped the benchmarks finish in positive territory in the first five sessions of 2018 on optimism over a stronger economy and looming fiscal stimulus.
The S&P 500 index gained 4.56 points, or 0.2%, to 2,747.71 while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 20.83 points, or 0.3, to 7,157.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend to slip 12.87 points to 25,283.
Among the more active industries were utilities which rose 0.9% and technology, where a 0.4% rise supported the Nasdaq.
GoPro Inc. said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $340 million, way below analysts' estimates of $472 million, and said it would slash its workforce by 20% to cut costs and exit the drone market. The stock fell over 30% on Monday.
Nvidia Inc., shares rose 3.1%. At a pre-CES news conference in Las Vegas on Sunday, the chip maker announced a partnership with Uber Inc. to provide the ride-hailing company with self-driving hardware.
Shares of Celgene Corp., shed 0.77% after the biotech group announced a deal to buy blood-disease biotechnology company Impact Biomedicines for as much as $7 billion.
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