Stocks rose Monday as shares in gold, health-care and energy rallied.
The S&P/TSX Composite regained 51.56 points to open Monday at 14,502.25
The Canadian dollar pulled back 0.33 cents to 76.01 cents U.S.
TMX Group, the owner of Canada's dominant stock exchange, said on Sunday it had not been removed from a major Canadian index run by S&P Global Inc. despite what a spokesman said was an erroneous press release issued by S&P unit Capital IQ Inc that it had been removed.
Shares in TMX dropped a cent to $56.99.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said its discount and rebates program for two high-priced heart drugs would cover over 90% U.S. hospitals once it had finalized the last of the 14 group purchasing organizations.
Valeant dropped 15 cents to $35.94.
RBC cut the target price on Concordia International to $14.00 from $25.00. Concordia shares fell six cents to $7.06.
Goldman Sachs raised the price target on Encana to $13.00 from $10.00. Encana shares hiked 30 cents, or 2.3%, to $13.18.
Desjardins raised the rating on Stella-Jones to buy from hold. Shares in the construction giant moved $1.03, or 2.4%, to $44.92.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange powered into the green 4.59 points to 803.83
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher to begin the session. Gold gained 0.8%, while health-care and energy were each better 0.6%.
The two laggards proved to be consumer staples, down 0.2%, and industrials slid 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Monday, with oil advancing about 1%, as investors geared up for two key central bank meetings.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped out of the blocks, gaining 114.02 points to 18,237.82, with 3M leading advancers and Verizon the top decliner.
The S&P 500 added 12.65 points to 2,151.81, with financials rising 1% and with real estate kicking off its first day as a sector in the index
The NASDAQ Composite moved higher 29.42 points to 5,273.99
The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are both scheduled to deliver their latest decision in monetary policy Wednesday. Market expectations for a Fed rate hike this week are just 12%, but roughly 50% for a rate jump by the end of the year.
The BOJ, meanwhile, is expected to take some action, as speculation points to a possible rate cut deeper into negative territory.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Friday’s 1.69%.
Oil prices strengthened 55 cents at $43.58 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices jumped eight dollars at $1,318.20 U.S. an ounce.
