Extorre Gold Mines shares soared more than 65% Monday on a takeover bid, topping a rally across the broader Canadian equities market.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 76.23 points to finish at 11,601.13
The Canadian dollar was down 0.32 of a cent to 97.65 cents U.S.
Extorre Gold Mines, with precious metals projects in Argentina, jumped 67.3% to $4.25 Monday, after entering into an agreement for acquisition by Yamana Gold Inc., whose stock gained 2.5% to $16.77
Yamana, a Canadian-based gold producer, bid to acquire Extorre for $4.26 a share of cash and stock, or approximately $413 million, at a 68% premium to Extorre’s Friday closing price of $2.54. Extorre’s board of directors recommended shareholders vote in support of the deal.
Other gold miners also made headway, including shares of Centerra Gold Inc., rising 6.6% to $12.86.
Helping propel the health-care sector were Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., rising 3.3% to $47.42, and SXC Health Solutions Corp., up 3.9% to $100.96. SXC Health Solutions announced Monday that URAC, a health-care accrediting organization out of Washington D.C., had awarded the company Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation.
Also making notable moves were Class B shares of Air Canada tacking on 3% to $1.02, after an arbitrator on Sunday selected the company’s final offer in a labour dispute. The new five-year agreement marks the end of negotiations stretching 14 months.
Air Canada also announced it is making their first flight using biofuel Monday, which the company said is expected to cut emission by at least 40%.
In the energy field, Suncor gained 0.9% to $29.27, while Imperial Oil dropped 0.3% to $43.74.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that offshore investors acquired $10.2 billion of Canadian securities in April, after a bit of a selloff the month before. Canadian investors' holdings of foreign securities went down by $2.7 billion, predominantly in bonds.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 8.73 points to 1,259.75. The Nasdaq Canada index moved ahead 2.20 points to 373.15
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day. Metals and mining headed the parade, taking off 2.2%, health-care and materials growing 2.1% each.
The lone laggard was in financials, down 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks remained choppy Monday, a day after the election in Greece yielded a win for the pro-bailout party.
While that vote was a positive for the markets, Greece's economy is far from out of the woods, and Europe's debt crisis is still hitting other sovereign nations hard.
The Dow Jones Industrials shed 25.35 points to end the day at 12,741.80
The S&P 500 moved 1.76 points higher, at 1,344.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index acquired 22.53 points to 2,895.33
Microsoft is expected to announce some news related to its own tablet computer Monday at an event in Los Angeles. Shares of Microsoft, which lost 2% in Friday trading, edged lower Monday.
Shares of footwear retailer DSW plunged 11% Monday after it warned that its fiscal second-quarter earnings would come in at 60 to 64 cents a share, far below its previous guidance and a consensus forecast of 76 cents a share.
Shares of Groupon surged 10% after the online coupon site was upgraded by an analyst at Morgan Stanley.
Shares of Facebook continued to rally Monday after spiking 5% Friday. The social network saw its shares rise for the second straight day Friday -- something that has happened only twice since its IPO on May 18.
An article in Monday's Wall Street Journal said decisions by Facebook's lead underwriter Morgan Stanley were responsible for many of the problems with the IPO. Morgan Stanley was down 4%.
Many of the nation's largest banks -- Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America -- were also down due to the uncertainty in Europe.
Overseas, the win in Sunday's Greek vote by the New Democracy party -- which supports the European bailout -- was a positive for investors. There were worries that a victory by austerity opponents would lead to a Greek debt default and a potential breaking up of the euro-zone.
But the Greek vote did little to solve mounting problems in Spain. While the election lifted markets in Asia, a rally in European stocks proved short-lived, and rising bond yields in Spain and elsewhere across Europe reflected the growing concern.
Spain's IBEX 35 index slipped 1.4%. It was led lower by leading bank stocks, an indication of investors' focus on Spanish problems.
Yields on bond debt across the continent rose, led by Spain's 10-year yield touching a euro-era record high of 7.14%. Any reading above 7% is seen as a warning sign that a nation will need a bailout by other countries in the euro-zone. Yields on
Italian 10-year bonds also moved above the 6% mark.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 1.58% from Friday’s 1.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil faded 99 cents to $83.02 U.S.
Gold futures for August delivery fell $1.00 to $1,627.10 U.S. an ounce.
