Canada's main stock index was flat at open Monday as rate-sensitive real estate and financial sector led gains, while the uncertainty around the Middle East conflict kept investors cautious.
The TSX Composite fell 2.5 points at the start of the day and week to 19,460.36.
The Canadian dollar edged up 0.08 cents at 73.36 cents U.S.
LOGISTEC Corp entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blue Wolf Capital Partners for $67/share. LOGISTEC shares popped $6.67, or 11.6%, to $63.99
On the economic calendar Monday, Canadian manufacturing sales rose 0.7% to $72.4 billion in August, mainly on higher sales of the petroleum and coal, food and machinery subsectors. Statistics Canada also reported wholesale sales increased 2.3% to $83.0 billion in August.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said national home sales declined 1.9% month-over-month in September. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 1.9% above September 2022.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forged ahead 1.35 points to begin the session at 530.45.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split at first, with energy, down 0.6%, while consumer staples and information technology each off 0.3%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by health-care, up 0.5%, real-estate, better by 0.3%, and financials eked up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Monday as investors braced for a deluge of corporate earnings reports, while keeping an eye on Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 171.65 points to begin Monday at 33,841.94.
The S&P 500 index gained 24.65 points to 4,352.40.
The NASDAQ index sprang up 90.86 points at 13,498.09.
Technology stocks Intel, Microsoft and Cisco were among the Dow’s bigger gainers in Monday’s session. Consumer discretionary and financials were the best performing sectors of the S&P 500.
Earnings season heats up this week with 11% of the S&P 500 slated to report results. Some notable names on deck this week include Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Netflix and Tesla.
Those results follow a solid start to the reporting period. Brokerage Charles Schwab rallied more than 3% on Monday after surpassing Wall Street expectations for earnings per share in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and UnitedHealth rose Friday after posting their latest quarterly results.
Some on Wall Street are bracing for more volatility into year end as yields and oil prices rise, inflation remains sticky, and conflict ensues in the Middle East. But a focus on earnings and what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates can give investors optimism in the short term
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 4.72% from Friday’s 4.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dumped 72 cents to $86.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $10.70 to $1,930.80.
