Markets in Toronto advanced on Monday as the U.S. Federal Reserve's reassurance of its support for that country’s economy built investor confidence and helped push up the market's financial and energy sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index increased 62.56 points to greet noon at 14,323.28.
The Canadian dollar added 0.12 cents at 90.52 cents U.S.
The Toronto stock market's benchmark index was on track to record its ninth straight monthly gain. It has advanced about 5% this quarter, making it one of the strongest performers among major global indexes.
Financials climbed as Royal Bank of Canada added 0.7% to $72.94, and Bank of Nova Scotia advanced 0.9% to $64.19.
Shares of energy producers shrugged off declines in the price of oil. Suncor Energy Inc was up 0.8% at $38.50.
In corporate news, Encana Corp said it would sell some natural gas assets in Wyoming's Jonah field to a TPG Capital affiliate for about $1.8 billion U.S.
Encana shares slipped 0.5% to $23.59.
Martinrea International Inc jumped 14.1% to $10.01 after the auto parts maker said that Nick Orlando will step down as the company's president and chief executive officer.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that real gross domestic product rose 0.5% in January. This follows a 0.5% decline in December after five consecutive monthly increases.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 3.98 points to 993.73
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher midday, led by health-care issues, up 1.8%, industrials, up 1.2%, and information technology, climbing 1.1%
The three laggards proved to be gold, down 1.9%, materials, dropping 0.8%, and metals and mining, shying away 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks look set to close out a lackluster first quarter with a bang Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hiked 118.41 points to 16,441.47. The S&P 500 index gained 14.43 points to 1,872.05, and is now within sight of its all-time high. The NASDAQ leaped 52.55 points to 4,208.31
But it's been a choppy three months. The Dow is still in the red, but the S&P 500 is up more than 1%. The NASDAQ had been the best performing major market index for most of the first quarter, but is now up only slightly after big sell-off in momentum stocks recently.
Investors were cheering a speech by Janet Yellen in Chicago Monday morning in which she maintained the Fed will support the economy "for some time to come."
Airlines have been among the better performing stocks so far. Shares of Delta Air Lines and Southwest are both up over 20%.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, investors hope strong economic data and fading geopolitical risks will help stocks resume their five-year bull run.
There is little economic or corporate news on the docket Monday, but investors are gearing up for a busy week which concludes with the government's jobs report on Friday.
Shares of General Motors were down as investors continue to worry about the company's handling of a recall for a flawed ignition switch in several of its models.
The stock is down 16% so far this year. GM CEO Mary Barra will testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday about the problems, which have been blamed for at least 13 fatalities.
BlackBerry shares fell after the struggling smartphone maker was downgraded by several analysts Monday morning. After enjoying an early boost in 2013 on hopes of new CEO John Chen's turnaround strategy, BlackBerry has tanked in recent days despite reporting a narrower-than-expected loss.
Shares of Disney bounced after its "Frozen" became the highest grossing animated film of all time after opening big in Japan over the weekend.
Google shares edged up. The tech giant's much anticipated two-for-one stock split takes place later this week. Shareholders will get another share for each one they own currently. The stock split was first announced two years ago, but was held up by a legal battle in which some shareholders raised objections.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries slid, upping yields to 2.73% from Friday’s 2.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave up 43 cents to $101.24 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $5.80 to $1,288 U.S. an ounce.
