Equity markets in Toronto were positive out of the gate Monday, with no macroeconomic factors to distract investors at the start of a holiday-shortened week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gathered 45.62 points to begin Monday’s trading at 13,551.69.
The Canadian dollar settled 0.29 cents to 76.60 cents U.S.
Markets will be closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.
Pacific Exploration & Production Corp said it chose not to make an interest payment due March 28, as the company works with debt holders to restructure debt.
Pacific Exploration added a cent, or 1.6%, to 63 cents.
Mizuho Securities cut the target price on Valeant Pharmaceuticals to $18 from $70.00. The beleaguered drug maker shot higher in price, however, by $4.35, or 12.5%, to $39.28.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.49 points to start the week at 580.33
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive, with health-care haler by 3.4%, gold up 1.1%, and materials better by 0.9%.
Consumer staples proved the lone laggard, down 0.08%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stateside stocks traded in a range Monday, after five straight weeks of gains, as investors eyed oil and housing data in the holiday-shortened week.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 39.79 points to 17,562.51, with Nike leading advancers and Intel the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 gained 1.1 points to 2,050.68, telecommunications leading advancers
The NASDAQ index dwindled 7.37 points to 4,788.08, as Apple gained more than 0.5%.
Citigroup traded more than 1% higher. KBW said in a Sunday note the firm "could be one of the only U.S. (global systematically important banks) that could successfully split up," a move that "should unlock meaningful shareholder value—50+% returns versus the current market capitalization."
Economically speaking, existing home sales south of the border declined 7.1% in February to an annual rate of 5.08 million units, the lowest level since November
Oil prices moved ahead 41 cents a barrel to $39.85 U.S.
Gold prices shed $7.62 to $1,247.78 U.S. an ounce.
