Markets in Canada’s biggest centre managed to hold onto gains on Monday, primarily lifted by a spike in prices for health-care issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 64.02 points to close Monday at 13,561.02
The Canadian dollar settled 0.47 cents to 76.43 cents U.S.
The star of the show Monday was the much-maligned Valeant Pharmaceuticals, who experienced a shakeup at the top with the departure of CEO Michael Pearson, and an invitation to activist investor Bill Ackman to join its board of directors. The stock took on $2.97, or 8.5%, in price to greet the closing bell at $37.90.
Also in the health-care field, Concordia Healthcare ballooned $3.50, or 10%, to finish at $38.61.
Significant gains were also posted by utilities, as TransAlta Corporation jumped 28 cents, or 5%, to $5.90, and Capital Power Corporation acquired 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $17.33.
In the information technology field, Absolute Software gained 15 cents, or 2.4%, to $6.49, and Open Text Corporation took on 43 cents to $64.85.
Among metals and mining concerns, Teck Resources got bruised seven cents to $11.05, while Lundin Mining dropped seven cents to $4.39.
The Trudeau Liberals on Tuesday will unveil their first budget since coming to power in October, having promised stimulus spending to boost economic growth.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.59 points to 582.41
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive, with health-care surging 4.4%, utilities up 1.6%, and information technology clicking higher 1.2%.
The two laggards were metals and mining, sliding 0.7%, and gold, fading 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stateside stocks closed slightly higher in low volume trade Monday, steadying after five straight weeks of gains, with telecommunications and health-care stocks leading the charge
The Dow Jones Industrials inched up 21.57 points to 17,623.87. Boeing and Nike were the top Dow gainers, while Chevron, Goldman Sachs and Walt Disney were the greatest downers.
The S&P 500 eked ahead 1.99 points to 2,051.57. Telecommunications led S&P 500 advancers, while materials lagged.
The NASDAQ index pointed upward 13.22 points to 4,808.87, as Gilead Sciences, Microsoft and Celgene gained ground. Apple gained more than 0.5% before erasing gains amid its product event.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals remained more than 7% higher after the firm's morning announcement that CEO Mike Pearson is leaving. The stock is still down more than 70% year-to-date in New York.
Citigroup briefly traded more than 1% higher, before holding near the flatline. 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."
Markets will be shuttered for Good Friday.
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
Following the worse-than-expected home sales data, Goldman Sachs lowered its first quarter GDP tracking estimate by one 10th to 2.3%
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, raising yields to 1.92% from Friday’s 1.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved ahead 47 cents a barrel to $39.901 U.S.
Gold prices shed $11.49 to $1,243.91 U.S. an ounce.
