The latest sign that Canada's economy is leading expectations helped push the Toronto stock market higher Monday as it enters probably the quietest trading week of the year.
The S&P/TSX composite index tacked on 48.10 points to close Monday at 13,447.70
The Canadian dollar grew 0.26 cents to 94.24 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. says it is selling its 5% stake and transportation rights in a Colombian oil pipeline to a consortium led by a private equity unit of Franklin Templeton for $385 million in cash.
Pacific Rubiales acquired its stake in the OCENSA pipeline when it bought Petrominerales Ltd. in a $1.6-billion deal that was announced in September.
Proceeds from the sale will be applied to the Petrominerales transaction and reduce the cost for Pacific Rubiales to about $1.2 billion. Its shares added two cents to $18.76 on the TSX.
French railway operator SNCF has exercised an option to buy an additional 30 Regio 2N double-deck electric passenger trains from Bombardier Inc.
The order is valued at $379 million U.S. and brings the total number of units that SNCF has ordered to 159, Bombardier announced Monday from Berlin, where its rail division has its global headquarters.
Bombardier shares dipped three cents to $4.59.
Energy stocks helped boost the TSX, as shares in EnCana Corp. climbed 18 cents to $19.17.
The info tech sector was the leading advancer, as shares in BlackBerry jumped 3.1%, or 24 cents, to $8.06.
Gold prices lost strength, weighing on the gold sector. Barrick Gold ditched 12 cents to $17.72.
March copper was unchanged at $3.31 U.S. a pound. In the base metals section, Teck Resources docked 15 cents to $26.16.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that Gross Domestic Product for October rose 0.3%, up for a fourth consecutive month. The general estimate had been for gross domestic product to grow by 0.2%, compared with September's increase of 0.3%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.80 points to 896.98
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were higher, led by information technology, consumer discretionary and telecom stocks, each group up 0.5%.
The five laggards were anchored by gold stocks, sinking 1%, while consumer staple issues lost 0.3% of their strength and utilities eased 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 rose to new records Monday, while the tech-rich NASDAQ climbed to a fresh 13-year high.
The Dow popped 73.47 points to close the day out at 16,294.61
The S&P 500 index improved 9.67 points to 1,827.99. The NASDAQ climbed 44.16 points to 4,148.90.
The market got a boost from Apple's stock surging more than 3%, after the company announced it had inked a deal with China Mobil, the world's largest carrier with about 700 million subscribers. Apple is number-one or number-two in almost all other countries where it sells the iPhone, but has lagged behind its competitors in China.
Shares of Apple rival BlackBerry also continued to surge. On Friday, shares of Blackberry jumped 15% as investors dismissed the company's huge loss and cheered interim CEO John Chen and a new partnership with Foxconn. Shares gained another 6% on Monday.
That market also got a lift from social media company Facebook which debuted as part of the S&P 500. Shares were up almost 2% in early trading as investors added the stock to their index funds.
Shares of retailers Men's Warehouse and Jos. A. Bank fell. Jos. A Bank rejected last month's buyout offer from Men's Warehouse.
Investors are also feeling increasingly confident after the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said her organization was much more upbeat about the U.S. economic recovery.
While a so-called Santa Claus rally may continue to fuel stocks in record territory, trading volume is expected to remain light due to the holiday-shortened week. The market is only open for a half-day trading on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and is closed on Wednesday for Christmas.
The latest figures out of Washington also pointed to a rosy outlook. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that Americans increased their spending in November by the most in five months, and their income edged up modestly.
It says consumer spending rose 0.5% from October, when spending had risen 0.4%. It was the best showing since June. The gain was driven by a jump in spending on long-lasting durable goods such as autos.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, hiking yields to 2.93% from Friday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 51 cents to $98.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped six dollars to $1,197.70 U.S. an ounce.
