The Toronto stock market was up sharply Monday as traders felt reassured by further moves to deal with Europe’s debt crisis ahead of a crucial European Union summit at the end of this week.
The S&P TSX Composite added on 152.90 points, or 1.3%, by noon ET to 12,227.98
The Canadian dollar picked up 0.24 cents to 98.61 U.S. cents, a day before the Bank of Canada makes its next announcement on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged at 1%.
The TSX energy sector ran up as Suncor Energy advanced 73 cents to $31.49 and Cenovus Energy climbed 72 cents to $33.81.
The base metals sector gained strength while March copper prices were up three cents to $3.62 U.S. on the Nymex. Prices ran up almost 10% last week after China, the biggest consumer of the metal, announced moves to ease lending and encourage growth. Teck Resources rose $1.11 to $38.98 and Quadra FNX Mining was up 34 cents to $11.04.
The financials sector was up while Royal Bank climbed 53 cents to $49.30 and TD Bank gained $1.27 to $74.02.
Industrial stocks also supported the Toronto market as Canadian Pacific Railway gained $1.09 to $63.40 and Canadian National Railways was up 98 cents to $79.78.
In the gold sector, Goldcorp Inc. has boosted its monthly dividend by 32% to 4.5 cents thanks to its strong cash flow. Its shares rose 60 cents to $52.93.
In corporate news, Frontier Rare Earths Ltd. stock soared 30 cents or 28.5% to $1.35 after it reached an agreement with Korean government-owned Korea Resources Corp. to accelerate development of its Zandkopsdrift rare earth project in South Africa. Korea Resources also announced that it plans to form a consortium comprised of Korean companies to join the Frontier joint venture.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nodded up 4.14 points to 1,561.02, while the Nasdaq Canada index increased 4.48 points to 398.71
All 14 Toronto subgroups gained ground, with metals and mining stocks leading the way, up 3.8%, global base metals adding 2.8%, and energy stocks 2.1% stronger.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rallied Monday, as investors grew optimistic at the start of what could be a pivotal week for Europe's debt crisis.
The prospects of an end to Europe's saga grew as the leaders of France and Germany agreed on a new fiscal pact that they say will prevent another debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 148.30 points, or 1.2%, to 12,167.70
The S&P 500 tacked on 20.26 points, to 1,264.54, while the Nasdaq Composite strengthened 43.18 points to 2,670.11
Bank stocks were leading the broad advance, with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America positing the best gains on the Dow. Shares of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were also gaining ground.
Despite a ho-hum finish on Friday, stocks logged robust gains last week after the FederalReserve and ECB said they will work with other top central banks to support the global economy.
The Dow rallied 7% -- its biggest weekly gain since July 2009; while the S&P 500 climbed 7.4% -- its best weekly performance since March 2009. The Nasdaq rose 7.6%, delivering its second-best weekly rise this year.
Shares of SuccessFactors Inc. surged after German software maker SAP agreed to buy the company for $3.4 billion U.S. in cash. Shares of Taleo, SuccessFactors' rival, also spiked.
Dollar General's stock edged higher after the company's quarterly profit topped expectations. The retailer also raised its guidance for the year.
Shares of Taiwanese phone maker HTC were down sharply ahead of a ruling on a key Apple patent suit. On Tuesday, a six-member panel at the International Trade Commission in Washington will rule on whether HTC's phones had violated two Apple patents.
As the European debt crisis continues to cloud global markets, the region's leaders are meeting throughout the week, which culminates with a two-day European Council summit to talk about rewriting European Union treaties.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Monday morning in Paris and agreed on a new pact they say will enforce fiscal discipline in the euro-zone and prevent another debt crisis in the future.
Sarkozy and Merkel said they would like all 27 members of the European Union to adopt the pact, which would require amending or rewriting existing EU treaties.
Sarkozy outlined the basic elements of the pact, which he said will be presented in detail at the EC meeting later this week.
Investors are optimistic that if European leaders stay on the track toward a a fiscal union, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi will follow through with the "other elements" he hinted at last week
Economically speaking, factory orders for the month of October slipped 0.4%, as expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
November's Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index indicated that the service sector continued to expand in November although the pace of growth unexpectedly eased with the index falling to 52.0 from 52.9 in October (a reading above 50 indicates that the sector is generally expanding; higher readings indicate a faster pace of growth).
Market expectations going into the report had been for an increase to 53.8.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury faded, pushing the yield up to 2.10% from 2.04% late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for January delivery increased 81 cents to $101.77 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $8.10 to $1,743.20 U.S. an ounce
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