Canada's main stock index jumped to its highest levels in nearly seven weeks on Monday with declines in resource stocks offset by stronger financial shares as investors shrugged off data showing Japan fell into a recession in the third quarter.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 69.37 points to greet noon at 14,912.47
The Canadian dollar docked 0.15 cents to 88.46 cents U.S.
Financials climbed with Toronto-Dominion Bank rising 0.7% to $57.48 and Bank of Nova Scotia gaining 0.7% to $69.11.
Shares of oil and gas producers slipped as oil prices dropped. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd lost 0.4% to $40.48, and Talisman Energy shed 1.3% to $6.33.
Gold-mining shares fell as Barrick Gold was down 0.7% at $13.73.
Telecoms vaulted as Telus took on 1.8% to $43.50.
Economically speaking, the world's third-largest economy unexpectedly shrank by an annualized 1.6% in July-September.
At home, Statistics Canada reported that Canadians bought up more foreign securities in September, adding $8.6 billion worth to their holdings. Meanwhile, foreign investment in Canadian securities slowed to $4.4 billion, mostly private corporate instruments.
Elsewhere, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported that national home sales rose 0.7% from September to October. CREA also said actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 7% above October 2013 levels.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell back 0.20 points to 776.43.
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher in the early going, with telecoms up 1.6%, consumer discretionaries up 1%, and health-care up 0.7%.
The three laggards were global base metals, down 0.8%, energy, down 0.6%, and gold, sliding 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday, as energy shares dropped alongside crude futures after Japan slipped into recession, while merger and acquisition activity and hopes for more stimuli capped declines and kept indexes near record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials eked higher 23.96 points to 17,658.70
The S&P 500 found its way up 1.38 points at 2,041.20. The NASDAQ index dipped 12.52 points to 4,676.02.
The M&A news partly offset the declines as Allergan agreed to be bought by Actavis while Halliburton said it would buy Baker Hughes. Allergan and Baker Hughes were the top point gainers on the S&P 500.
The energy sector fell 0.8%, the largest weight on the S&P 500.
The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 was Baker Hughes, up 10.6% on news Halliburton would acquire it in a cash and stock transaction of about $34.6 billion U.S. Halliburton shares fell 9.3%.
Denbury Resources, down 11.2%, was the largest S&P 500 decliner. It said it would cut its capital spending for next year in half.
Allergan added 6% to $210.46 U.S. as the Actavis buyout values the company at $66 billion. Actavis shares rose 2.3% to $249.30 U.S.
Negotiations between Hasbro and DreamWorks Animation have been hampered by issues regarding the structure of the combined company, according to a person familiar with the matter. DreamWorks shares fell 15% to $22.13 U.S. Hasbro added 4.7% to $56.55 U.S.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries listed lower, raising yields to 2.34% from Friday’s 2.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices doffed 68 cents to $75.14 U.S.
Gold prices slipped $2.20 to $1,183.40 U.S.
