Toronto stocks remained slightly higher on Monday but gave back the majority of the day's gains.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished ahead 44.69 points to 11,677.42
Mining stocks were up, as First Quantum rallied 6.5% to $80.32 after the company reached a deal to acquire Kiwara in a cash and stock deal with GBP 43.68.
Energy stocks have gained, as Husky Energy added 0.3% to $28.22 after the company announced the discovery of additional oil resources in the White Rose area.
In other corporate news, Silver Wheaton gained 2.2% to $17.13 after the stock was upgraded to "outperform" from "sector perform".
Bank of Montreal edged up 0.1% to $58.32 with its quarterly earnings report expected on Tuesday.
Bankrupt Canadian network solutions company Nortel Networks announced that Ciena has acquired its Global Optical Networking And Carrier Ethernet Businesses for $769 million U.S. in cash and debt.
Economically speaking, Stats Canada reported retail sales rose 1% in September, compared to a 0.95% jump in the previous month. A rise of 0.4% was forecast. Excluding autos, sales were up 1.1%, compared to a revised 0.65% jump in August.
The Canadian dollar gained 1.21 cents to 94.69 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups ended the session in positive country. Metals and mining stocks were the leaders, up 1.2%, followed by health-care, ahead 0.9% and energy, 0.7% to the good.
Only utilities went down, and only 0.5% at that.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.57 points to 1,416.63, while the Nasdaq Canada picked up six points to 660.45
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks surged Monday, with the Dow touching its highest point in more than a year in light, pre-Thanksgiving trading, on a strong housing report and a rally in commodities.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 132.79 points, or 1.3%, to 10,450.95, heights they haven’t seen since Oct. 3, 2008. The S&P 500 index gained 14.86 points to 1,106.24, while the Nasdaq added 29.97 points to 2,176.01.
The dollar's weakness versus the euro helped lift gold to another record, putting the precious metal within $36 of $1,200 U.S. an ounce.
Stocks had slipped for the last three sessions, ending last week mixed, as investors pulled back a bit after pushing the Dow to a 13-month high. But Monday's news brought a new wave of buying.
One expert said that after October's slight pullback, November has clearly been another "up" month for investors, with the S&P 500 climbing around 6%. He added there is little on tap between now and year end to disrupt the flow, although the pace of gains is likely to slow.
Since bottoming at a 12-year low on March 9, the Dow has gained 57.6% as of Friday's close. In that same period, the Nasdaq gained 69% and the S&P 500 gained 62%.
Stock gains were broad-based Monday, with 28 of 30 Dow issues rising, led by Boeing, Caterpillar, Chevron, IBM, 3M, Procter & Gamble and Exxon Mobil
The Dow's financial shares rallied, too, including American Express and JPMorgan Chase.
Hewlett-Packard rallied ahead of its quarterly results due out after the close tonight. Last week, the company said it expects to earn $1.14 U.S. per share, up 10% from a year ago.
Trading is expected to lighten up in the sessions leading up to Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. All financial markets will be closed Thursday and stocks will close early on Friday.
On the economic front, existing home sales in October surged to the highest level since February 2007, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Monday morning.
Sales rose 10.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units, versus a revised 5.54 million units in September. Economists expected sales of 5.7 million units, on average.
The strong sales were largely driven by buyers trying to tax advantage of the government's first-time homebuyer tax credit, which was initially due to expire at the end of November. The credit has now been extended to the end of April and includes a broader range of buyers.
Investors have been looking for the economic news to confirm what many economists say: The recession, which began in December 2007, is over. In particular, a recovery in the housing market is critical as the credit crisis and housing market collapse deepened the economic crisis.
Treasury prices were flat, leaving the yields on the benchmark 10-year note unchanged from Friday’s 3.36%.
The price of a barrel of oil improved nine cents to $77.72 U.S.
Gold prices added to its record high, tacking on $18 to read $1,165 U.S.
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