Equities in Toronto rose on Monday as positive economic data from China lifted shares of natural resource producers and Valeant Pharmaceuticals gained as the drug maker looked to go hostile with its bid for Allergan Inc.
The S&P/TSX composite index improved 76.60 points to end Monday at 14,680.76.
The Canadian dollar tumbled 0.45 cents to 91.78 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers advanced as Suncor Energy rose 30 cents to $42.04, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd was up 41 cents at $44.54.
Financials added strength, with Toronto Dominion Bank climbing nearly 22 cents to $53.99. Royal Bank shares gathered a cent to $74.66
With copper futures up about 1% diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd gained 33 cents to $24.50.
In corporate news, Valeant prepared to take its $53.8-billion takeover bid for Allergan directly to the Botox maker's shareholders, and ally Pershing Square called for a meeting to turn over the target company's board. Valeant shares added $3.83, or 2.7%, to $146.17.
On the economic scene, a reading of manufacturing activity in China released over the weekend showed the country's factory sector continued to strengthen after a rough start to the year.
Domestically, manufacturers in Canada signaled the slowest improvement in overall business conditions in four months during May, according to the RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index.
At 52.2 in May, down from 52.9 in April, the headline RBC PMI remained above the neutral 50.0 mark, but eased to its lowest level since January. The index was also weaker than the 53.3 average since the survey began in late 2010.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 5.60 points to 978.39.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day, with metals and mining stronger by 1.4%, global base metals mightier by 1.2%, and health-care 1.1% more robust.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by information technology issues, ticking 0.8% lower, gold, shining 0.7% duller, and consumer staples, 0.6% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were mostly flat Monday, but it was a bumpy ride after a research firm mixed up some data in its closely-watched manufacturing report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was positive 15.15 points to close Monday at 16,732.32
The S&P 500 inched up 1.40 points to 1,924.77, but the NASDAQ composite index slid 5.42 points to 4,237.20
The Dow was on track for a sixth record close of 2014. The S&P 500 had a chance to log its 15th record close.
The NASDAQ, which also had a strong May, was lower in early afternoon trading. The index is being dragged down by tumbling shares of Amazon.com, Tesla and BlackBerry.
Biotech stocks like Biogen were also in reverse.
Shares of Google slid more than 1.5%. Over the weekend The Wall Street Journal reported Google plans to spend over $1 billion U.S. on a fleet of satellites aimed at boosting Internet access around the world.
A censorship monitor also revealed Google's search engine and Gmail service are being disrupted in China ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Apple slipped over 1% as investors were less than impressed by the early announcements at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple unveiled new operating systems for Macs, iPhones and iPads as well as an app for health and fitness info.
Wall Street has been hungry for Apple to release new information about the company's effort to enter new product categories. The stock traded as high as $644 U.S. on Friday after Apple confirmed that it's buying Beats for $3 billion U.S. nd in anticipation of this week's conference.
That's the closest the stock has been to its all-time high just over $700 U.S. from September 2012. Today, shares are hovering around $628 U.S.
On the other hand, shares of Broadcom bounced 10% after the company revealed it is considering a possible sale of its cellular baseband business. The chip maker said a sale or wind down could generate $700 million in savings.
The Broadcom rally reminded some investors of the stock's darling status during the tech bubble when it surged to nearly $200 U.S.
Billionaire Carl Icahn's publicly traded investment firm suffered a selloff amid insider-trading jitters.
The 4% drop in Icahn Enterprises comes after law enforcement sources told CNN that the government is examining stock trades made by Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and sports bettor Billy Walters. The probe involves trades executed in 2011 after Icahn's investment in Clorox.
Gannet rose almost 4% after Barron's argued the media company could surge 40%, especially if it follows in the footsteps of peers by spinning off its publishing assets like USA Today.
Protective Life surged 11% amid reports that Japan's Dai-ichi Life Insurance is considering acquiring the Alabama-based company.
Shares of American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust raced 10% higher after it agreed to be sold to Ventas for $2.6 billion U.S. in cash and stock. Both companies are health care real-estate investment trusts, or REITs.
Energy and utility stocks were largely unmoved by the sweeping EPA rules unveiled on Monday aimed at slashing the power sector's carbon emissions 30% by 2030.
Hertz Global, Krispy Kreme and Quicksilver will report earnings after the closing bell.
The Institute for Supply Management's initial manufacturing showed an unexpected dip to 53.2 in May from 54.9 in April. That meant the pace of manufacturing expansion slowed a bit. Investors had expected a spring pickup.
But then ISM corrected itself by saying manufacturing activity actually improved to 56. That helped ease concerns about the economy, and the Dow Jones industrial averagequickly climbed back into positive territory on the reports.
ISM later corrected itself a second time, saying the actual reading is 55.4. The confusion over the ISM numbers is frustrating investors
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped sharply, hiking yields to 2.53% from Friday’s 2.46%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices dumped 35 cents to $102.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $2.80 to $1,243.20 U.S. an ounce.
