Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest market were subdued on Monday, as optimism over Canadian Pacific Railway's $25-billion cash-and-stock deal to buy Kansas City Southern was offset by weaker oil and gold prices.
The TSX obtained enough traction to overcome morning losses and pick up 17.53 points to finish Friday and the week at 18,854. The main index was rewarded with a weekly gain of just more than two and a half points, or 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.3 cents at 80.15 cents U.S.
June futures nicked 0.1% Monday.
Unionized dockworkers at Canada's second-largest port on Sunday rejected an offer from management, raising industry fears of a new strike following crippling work stoppages in 2020.
RBC raised the rating on Capstone Mining to outperform from sector perform
CIBC cut the rating on Cascades to neutral from outperform
RBC cut the rating on Labrador Iron Ore Royalty to sector perform from outperform
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 15.15 points, or 1.6%, Friday to 995.15, for a gain on the week of nearly 13 points, or 1.31%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were mixed early Monday morning as Wall Street looked to bounce back from a losing week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials declined 25 points, or 0.1%, to 32,476.
Futures for the S&P gained 7.5 points or 0.2%, to 3,907.25.
The NASDAQ Composite index leaped 103 points, or 0.8%, to 12,948.25.
The three major indexes lost ground last week. The Dow and S&P 500 slipped on Friday to finish the week down 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, breaking two-week winning streaks. The NASDAQ rose on Friday but still finished the week with a 0.8% loss.
Even with the weakness last week, the S&P 500 and Dow are still near record highs, and the NASDAQ isn’t too far off.
U.S. trial data released Monday showed the COVID vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalization.
Over the weekend, the industrials sector produced a major piece of corporate news. Canadian Pacific Railway announced that it was buying Kansas City Southern in a deal valued at $25 billion, creating a rail giant that connects, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
On the economic data front, investors will get another look at the housing market on Monday when the National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for February. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are projecting a decline of 2.8%
The 10-year Treasury yield fell five basis points to 1.68%, after touching a 14-month high last week (one basis point equals 0.01%). The move higher in rates has raised concerns about valuations on growth and tech stocks.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 2.1% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 0.4%.
Oil prices gathered 13 cents to $61.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $7.90 to $1,733.80 U.S.
