Monday proved another lucrative day on the markets, at least in Canada, where consumer staples provided the fuel for another triple-digit gain.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rumbled ahead 136.66 points to close Monday to 15,103.22.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.23 cents to 71.38 cents U.S.
Among staples, Premium Brands Holdings gained $9.85, or 12.8%, to $86.85, while Maple Leaf Foods galloped $1.19, or 4.8%, to $26.22.
Tech issues were also stronger, as Shopify gained $63.92, or 6.5%, to $1,052.98. Evertz Technologies picked up 33 cents, or 2.2%, to $15.50
Among utilities, Brookfield Infra Partners added three dollars, or 5.3%, to $59.34, while Brookfield Renewable Partners jumped $1.92, or 2.8%, to $71.58.
Gold, however, settled, as Alacer Gold doffed 34 cents, or 4.2%, to $7.85, while B2Gold ditched 34 cents, or 4.5%, to $7.30.
Among materials, Hudbay Minerals sank 21 cents, or 6%, to $3.29, while MAG Silver dipped 89 cents, or 5.3%, to $15.96.
Among real-estate concerns, Colliers International lost $3.84, or 5.5%, to $66.32, while Cominar REIT, down 41 cents, or 5.2%, to $7.54.
The total fatalities among coronavirus patients in Canada rose 2.2% to 4,728 on Sunday, one of the lowest daily increases since the outbreak started, according to official public health agency data.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.11 points to 495.20.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups finished the day positive, with consumer staples surging 2.9%, information technology vaulting 2.6%, utilities, better by 1.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2.4%, materials sliding 2.2%, and real-estate, off 1.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite climbed for a sixth straight session on Monday as shares of major technology companies added to their comeback rally. The strength in big tech also lifted the S&P 500 to the flat line from losses earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished the day on the minus side, 109.33 points to 24,221.99.
The S&P 500 recovered 0.39 points to 2,930.19.
The tech-heavy index NASDAQ traded higher 71.02 to 9,192.34, marking its longest winning streak since an 11-day run back in December. For the year, the NASDAQ was up about 2.4% and traded just 6% below its record high set in February.
Amazon, Apple and Microsoft all rose more than 1%, posting their sixth consecutive day of gains. Netflix jumped 1.4%, while Google parent Alphabet climbed 1.4%.
Apple said Friday it will start to reopen U.S. stores this week. The stores, Apple said, will have temperature checks and will limit the number of customers inside the store at once.
Stocks that would benefit from the economy reopening are also up sharply since then. MGM Resorts has soared more than 70% while Disney is up about 27% in that time.
But those stocks were down Monday. Disney lost 1.2%. MGM fell 6.0%. United Airlines lost 5.7%.
A jump in infections in South Korea and other countries that appeared passed the worst of the coronavirus stoked some jitters here. Stocks that would benefit most from reopening led the losses including airlines, retailers, cruise lines and casinos.
South Korea warned of a new cluster of cases involving night clubs and the number of new coronavirus cases worldwide reached four million. Singapore and Japan also confirmed new cases.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were lower, raising yields to 0.71% from Friday’s 0.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eased five cents to $24.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $13.00 to $1,700.90 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
