Canada's main stock index hit a record high on Monday, aided by gains in healthcare and commodity-linked stocks, with sentiment getting a boost from the passage of a $1-trillion U.S. infrastructure bill.
The S&P/TSX Composite jumped 124.29 points to move into the afternoon session at 21,580.11.
The Canadian dollar handed back 0.01 cents to 80.29 cents U.S.
The healthcare stocks rose in early trading on the back of a jump of $.43, or 21.5% in pot producer Cronos Group. The stock was the biggest percentage gainer on the index, moving into the afternoon at $8.07.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange popped 10.86 points to 996.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with health-care leaping 6.9%, energy rumbling 2.4%, and information technology up 1.9%.
The three laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, down 0.5%, real-estate, off 0.3%, and utilities sliding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped to a new intraday high Monday after Congress approved an infrastructure spending package.
The 30-stock index came off its highs of the morning, but was still ahead 44.12 points to 36,372.07
The S&P 500 added 2.23 points to add to Friday’s all-time high at 4,699.76,
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 35.14 points to 16,006.73.
Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar led the Dow’s rally with a more than 3% gain. Heavy equipment producer Deere saw its shares rise more than 2%. Nucor and Vulcan Materials each added more than 3%. United Rentals, Martin Marietta, Quanta and Jacobs Engineering were among the other infrastructure-related gainers.
Elsewhere, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices led gainers on the NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500. AMD rallied more than 9% after the company announced it won Meta, formerly known as Facebook, as a chip customer and revealed new chip products.
Meanwhile, Tesla founder Elon Musk rattled investors this weekend, asking in a Twitter poll whether he should sell 10% of his stock as a response to political clamoring to tax unrealized gains from equity holdings. As some 58% of respondents said yes, shares in Tesla dropped more than 3% and weighed on the S&P 500.
The U.S. House of Representatives late Friday passed a more than $1-trillion infrastructure bill, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature. First passed by the Senate in August, the package would provide new funding for transportation, utilities and broadband, among other infrastructure projects.
The passage of the infrastructure stimulus, an improving COVID situation in the U.S., and a better-than-expected labor market reading boosted investor confidence in the economic recovery. The October jobs report came in Friday better than economists expected as U.S. payrolls added 531,000 jobs last month, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys sagged, raising yields to 1.50% from Friday’s 1.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 69 cents to $81.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shot higher $8.10 to $1,824.80 U.S. an ounce.
