Canadian stocks rose, after capping a monthly decline, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. climbed and consumer-discretionary companies increased.
The S&P/TSX composite index roared ahead in the afternoon session 60.04 points to close at 15,074.13
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.60 cents to 79.78 cents U.S.
Magna International Inc. increased in price $2.40, or 3.4%, to $73.87, while Linamar Corp. increased $3.53, or 4.2% to $88.25, to pace gains among consumer-discretionary stocks.
Bank of Nova Scotia climbed 52 cents, or 0.8% for a fourth- straight advance, to $65.92. Valeant increased $3.15, or 1.1% to $299.59, after surpassing Toronto-Dominion Bank in market capitalization on Friday.
Magna climbed $2.40, or 3.4% to $73.87, and Dollarama Inc. increased $2.40, or 3.5% to $71.28, as consumer-discretionary stocks jumped as a group.
ARC Resources Ltd. lost 50 cents, or 2.2% to $22.28, and Pengrowth Energy Corp. retreated nine cents, or 2.7% to $3.24 as oil halted a two-day advance.
RBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index data was released this morning, and showed at 49.8 in May, up slightly from 49.0 in April, the highest level for the index since January.
But Canada’s largest bank also says the figure still signaled a fractional deterioration in overall business conditions. A modest increase in production levels was the main positive influence on the headline index in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 1.18 points to 691.27
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher on the day, with consumer discretionary sprinting 1.8%, health-care up 1.1%, and industrials gaining 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed most by a 0.5% loss in energy stocks, while global base metals slid 0.3%, and consumer staples demurred 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Monday, the first day of trade for June, as investors found some encouragement from mixed second-quarter economic reports.
The Dow Jones Industrials advanced 29.69 points, to finish at 18,040.37, with DuPont leading advancers and Intel the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index added 3.78 points to 2,111.17, with industrials leading eight sectors higher and energy and telecommunications the only decliners.
The NASDAQ gained 9.69 points to 5,079.72
In corporate news, Intel agreed to buy Altera for $16.7 billion U.S. as the world's biggest chipmaker seeks to make up for slowing demand from the PC industry, Reuters said.
Walt Disney Chief Financial Officer James Rasulo will leave the post at the end of June, the company announced Monday.
Cisco Systems Presidents Rob Lloyd and Gary Moore are planning to leave the company on July 25, according to a report by Dow Jones.
Lloyd had been seen as a possible successor to CEO John Chambers, who in May named Chuck Robbins as the new CEO.
Microsoft announced Windows 10 will be released on July 29. The company had previously said the updated operating system would be released "this summer."
Apple has filed for a potential yen-based note offering in 2020, with minimum denominations of 100 million yen. The total size of the possible offering was not disclosed in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity was 52.8 in May, up from April's reading of 51.5, which had tied with March's reading as the lowest since May 2013. The reading topped expectations of 52.0, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Construction spending for April increased 2.2%.
The May manufacturing PMI index came in at 54.0, slightly above the initial read of 53.8 and little changed from April's 54.1 report.
Monday's economic reports kick off a week of data. ISM non-manufacturing is expected Tuesday, while Friday brings the key non-farm payrolls report.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries backslid, raising yields to 2.18% from Friday’s 2.12%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell five cents a barrel to $60.25 U.S.
Gold prices gained 20 cents at $1,190 U.S. an ounce.
