Canada's main stock index opened higher on Monday, with technology and energy stocks leading gains, as focus turns to Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections for cues on market trajectory.
The TSX Composite gained 36.19 points to begin Monday at 19,449.81.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.08 cents to 73.99 cents U.S.
The board of South Africa's Gold Fields said it will not change its offer for Yamana Gold after the company received a surprise rival bid from Agnico Eagle and Pan American on Friday.
Yamana dropped six cents to $6.53.
The fate of Rogers Communications' acquisition of Shaw Communications will be decided at a Competition Tribunal hearing starting on Monday, after the companies and the antitrust bureau failed to reach a settlement despite repeated attempts.
Rogers shares fell nine cents to $56.57, while those for Shaw took on a penny to $35.59.
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and Dream Industrial REIT will buy Summit Industrial Income REIT for about $4.46 billion. Units of Dream Industrial REIT acquired 64 cents, or 4.3%, to $15.62, while those for Summit picked up $4.54, or 25.3%, to $22.47.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched forward 1.55 points to 595.25.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, led by real-estate, ahead 2.8%, information technology, jumping 1.6%, and consumer staples, better 0.4%.
The five laggards were weighed most by utilities, falling 1%, materials, slipping 0.7%, and communications, down 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Monday as a packed week kicked off, with congressional midterm elections and key inflation data on deck over the next few days.
The 30-stock index gained 160.46 points to open the week at 32,563.68.
The S&P 500 advanced 5.59 points to 3,776.14
The NASDAQ fell behind 11.45 points to 10,463.80.
Shares of Apple fell more than 1% after the tech company said iPhone production has been temporarily reduced because of COVID-19 restrictions in China. Palantir shares, meanwhile, declined more than 5% after the company posted disappointing quarterly results.
Meanwhile, shares of Facebook parent Meta gained more than 3% following a Wall Street Journal report that said the company could start layoffs as soon as Wednesday.
Tuesday’s midterm election will determine which party will control Congress, and impact the direction of future spending. Democrats currently control the House, and have a majority in the Senate.
Investors could approve of a potential gridlock that may come out of the midterm elections as a Democratic president, with a Republican or split Congress, has historically meant above-average gains, experts say.
Elsewhere, several companies are expected to report Monday including Activision Blizzard, Lyft and Take-Two Interactive. Corporate earnings season is winding down with a majority of companies in the S&P 500 having reported results.
Treasury prices gave up its gains, raising yields to 4.21% from Friday’s 4.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tailed off 23 cents to $92.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.80 to $1,678.40 U.S. an ounce.
