Canada's main stock index eked out slight gains on Monday, helped by a rebound in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and by gains in some heavyweight financial and energy stocks, while a mix of mining and industrial stocks weighed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was in the green 5.03 points to greet noon at 13,534.2.
The Canadian dollar settled 0.13 cents at 76.38 cents U.S.
The most influential positive mover on the index was Valeant, which rose 9.5% to $133.59 after a short-seller's latest report on the embattled drug company did not included new allegations.
The materials group, which includes miners, retreated as Goldcorp Inc declined 1.7% to $16.44 and Cameco Corp lost 1.8% to $18.19.
Consumer staples names fell, with Restaurant Brands International Inc off 1.5% at $51.70.
Industrials were off, with Canadian National Railway down 0.6% at $79.41.
The heavyweight financials group climbed slightly, with insurer Manulife Financial Corp advancing 0.8% to $21.86 and Sun Life Financial Inc up 0.5% to $44.34.
Cenovus Energy Inc 2.2% to $19.89 and Crescent Point Energy gained 2.2% to $18.22.
On the economic calendar, RBC announced that its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index posted 48.0 in October, down from 48.6 in September and below the neutral 50.0 threshold for the third month in a row, signaling a deterioration of business conditions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased back 1.7 points to 540.33
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were negative at lunch hour, with metals and mining down 0.8%, gold off 0.7%, and industrials, sliding 0.6%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by health-care, sprinting 1.6%, while energy proved 0.7% more energetic, and information technology clicked 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher Monday, after posting their best month in four years, as investors eyed earnings and a heavy week of economic reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average spiked 96.2 points to 17,759.74, with Pfizer leading advancers and Visa the greatest laggard.
Chevron contributed the most to gains in the Dow Jones industrial average, which traded about 90 points higher after briefly adding more than 100 points in mid-morning trade.
The S&P 500 recovered 13.48 points to 2,092.84, with health-care leading seven sectors higher and utilities the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index jumped 43.83 points to 5,097.80
Visa reported earnings that missed on revenue that slightly topped expectations. Visa also announced the purchase of Visa Europe for about $18.2 billion U.S. and authorized a new $5-billion U.S. share repurchase program.
In corporate news, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise began trading as separate companies Monday, following the split of Hewlett-Packard into two.
Earnings season winds down with fewer names reporting this week. AIG and Fitbit are among those posting results after the bell.
In U.S. economic news, October ISM manufacturing was 50.1, slightly beating expectations of 50.0 but posting a fourth-straight monthly decline, Reuters said. Construction spending rose 0.6 percent in September.
The final read on October manufacturing PMI hit a 6-month high at 54.1, according to Markit.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, thus raising yields to 2.18% from Friday’s 2.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 62 cents a barrel to $45.97 U.S.
Gold prices slid $6.92 to $1,135.19 U.S. an ounce.
