Stocks in Toronto jumped on Monday as a gain in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International helped overcome a drop in oil and gas shares spurred by lower crude prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index grew 111.45 points, to greet noon at 14,842.95
The Canadian dollar gathered 0.14 cents to 78.31 cents U.S.
The gain in the Toronto stock market's benchmark TSX index on Monday follows a 1.5% drop the previous week, when investors speculated the U.S. Federal Reserve might soon opt for an interest rate increase. The Fed is set to release a statement later this week.
Financials were better off as Bank of Nova Scotia climbed 0.9% to $63.44, and Bank of Montreal rose 1% to $76.77.
Shares of energy producers shed strength, with Suncor Energy losing 1.6% to $34.78, and Canadian Natural Resources slipping 1.7% to $35.86.
Valeant jumped 2.7% to $259.12.
Utilities proved the strongest of the TSX gaining subgroups, as Algonquin Power and Utilities gained 82 cents, or 9.7%, to $9.32.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by a monthly record $10.8 billion in January, following a $13.9-billion investment in December.
Meanwhile, foreign investors resumed their acquisitions of Canadian securities by adding $5.7 billion worth to their portfolios.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 2.49 points to 662.11
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained ground by noon hour Monday, as utilities bolted 1.9% higher, consumer staples, picked up 1.8%, and industrials advanced 1.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by metals and mining, down 1.6%, energy, off 1.3%, and gold, sliding 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded about 1% higher on Monday as investors eyed weakness in the dollar and oil prices ahead of Wednesday's key Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 189.90points, or 1.1%, to 17,939.21, with 3M leading gains and DuPont the greater of two blue-chip laggards.
The S&P 500 recovered 20.65 points to 2,074.05, with utilities leading nine sectors higher and materials the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index added 40.13 points to 4,911.89
Valeant Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy Salix Pharmaceuticals for $173 U.S. a share, beating out Endo's offer.
Walgreens Boots Alliance hit a record high following news after the bell on Friday that the firm will join the Nasdaq 100 on March 23.
MSG Chief Executive Officer Tad Smith has left that job to take the CEO job at Sotheby's. He'll be replaced on an interim basis at MSG by James Dolan, the president and CEO of MSG parent Cablevision and the Executive Chairman of MSG.
UBS cut earnings estimates for Microsoft, citing weaker-than-expected PC demand, ongoing mobile challenges, and the impact of foreign currency.
The media group struck a deal to buy a majority stake in Polish broadcaster TVN for $615 million U.S.
A judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement of a lawsuit by Hewlett-Packard shareholders over its ill-fated acquisition of British software firm Autonomy. HP bought Autonomy for more than $11 billion U.S. in 2011, but then had to take an $8.8-billion U.S. writeoff a year later.
Netflix was downgraded to sell from hold at Evercore, pointing to an intensely competitive environment for the video streaming service.
BP will invest $12 billion U.S. in Egypt in a project that will produce the equivalent of three billion barrels of oil.
The Federal Open Market Committee holds its March meeting over the next two days, with the release of its statement on Wednesday.
Investors are watching to see if the key word "patient" remains in the statement, an indication of when short-term interest rates might go up.
The U.S. dollar index fell nearly 1% on Monday to trade briefly below 100. The index gained nearly 3% in the last week as the euro dipped to 12-year lows below $1.05.
Home builder confidence fell two points to 53 in March, down from a high of 59 last September.
Before the bell, the Empire State Index posted 6.90 for March, below February's 7.78. Industrial production rose 0.1% in February, below expectations, with capacity utilization slightly lower at 78.9%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields back up to 2.08% from Friday’s 2.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided $1.62 to $43.22 U.S.
Gold prices eked up 20 cents to $1,152.60 U.S.
