Canadian stocks have turned higher over the course of Monday afternoon amid uncertain trading. Financial and mining stocks experienced moderate strength to lead the way.
The S&P TSX Composite Index gained 144.80 points, or 1.5%, to end today’s trading at 9.891.93, after letting go of more than 500 points last week.
Mining stocks climbed, as the price of copper rose more than 10 cents U.S a pound on the Comex. Teck Resources added 5.7% to $19.00 and HudBay was up 4% to $7.34.
Financial stocks rose with the big six banks all in the green. Royal Bank climbed 2.9% at $46.42, National Bank was up 2.5% at $53.74 and Toronto-Dominion added 2.2% to $58.07.
In corporate news, Air Canada picked up 5.4% to $1.38 amid reports the company has narrowly approved a collective agreement for pension funding, according to the Globe and Mail.
ADF Group gained 10.3% to $2.46 after the company announced that it has been granted a major contract worth $77 million in the North America's public infrastructure sector.
Meanwhile, Jaguar Mining was down 0.7% to $8.42 after the company announced that it produced 40,758 ounces of gold at an average cash operating cost of $466 per ounce in the second quarter, compared to 20,782 ounces at an average cash operating cost of $455 per ounce during the same period last year, a production increase of 96%.
The Canadian dollar gained back 0.97 cents to 86.84 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups had ventured into the black by the closing bell Monday. Financials were the best off, up 2.6%, while metals and mining stocks gained 2.3% and industrials were ahead 2.1%.
Only health-care stocks missed the party, losing 0.2%.
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 2.08 points, to 1,047.63, while the Nasdaq Canada Index tacked on 2.93 points to 653.06.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks surged Monday, with financial and consumer shares leading the advance, as investors welcomed an analysts' improved outlook on Goldman Sachs one day ahead of its quarterly report.
The Dow Jones Industrials average sprinted ahead 185.16 points, or 2.3%, to close at 8,331.68.
The S&P 500 index picked up 21.92 points to 901.05. The Nasdaq thrived 37.18 points to 1,793.21.
Stocks gained through the morning, after a shaky start. But the advance got an extra boost after influential banking analyst Meredith Whitney said in a televised interview that she was lifting her view on Goldman Sachs and that Bank of America could provide value for investors.
Both companies are due to report results this week, with Goldman due Tuesday and BofA due Friday. Other financial companies set to report include JPMorgan Chase on Thursday and Citigroup on Friday.
JPMorgan and Bank of America are both Dow components. Four other Dow companies are due to report results this week: Johnson & Johnson, IBM, General Electric and Intel.
This week brings the first big batch of quarterly financial results, with 31 of the S&P 500 companies due to report. S&P earnings are expected to have declined 36% in the second quarter versus a year ago, according to the latest Thomson Reuters estimates.
Stock gains were broad-based Monday with all 30 Dow stocks rising, led by oil components Chevron and Exxon Mobil, tech leader IBM and financial components JPMorgan Chase and Travelers.
Other big Dow gainers included Boeing, United Technologies, 3M, Coca-Cola and Caterpillar.
Stocks were mixed Friday at the end of another down week on Wall Street. The Dow and S&P 500 have slumped for four straight weeks and the Nasdaq for three of the past four weeks. A spring rally propelled the broad market by 40% in three months, but since then investors have backed off amid worries that the recession could drag on.
Economically speaking, the federal budget deficit increased in June, pushing the total budget shortfall to over $1 trillion U.S. in the first nine months of the fiscal year.
Treasury prices listed lower, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil sank 20 cents to $59.87 U.S.
Gold prices leaped $10 an ounce to $923 U.S.
