Canada's main stock index rose on Monday, led by financials and resource stocks as commodity prices climbed and investors bet that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold rates steady this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 45.54 points to close at 14,496.23
The Canadian dollar gained 0.09 cents to 75.77 cents U.S.
All subgroups finished positive, particularly real-estate, with Brookfield Asset Management climbing 31 cents to $43.70.
In the tech field, BlackBerry gathered 14 cents, or 1.5%, to $9.68.
Financials also performed well, with National Bank jumping 44 cents to $47.57, while Manulife took on 16 cents to $18.19.
In the energy field, EnCanada leaped 15 cents, or 1.2%, to $13.03, and Suncor Energy gained 15 cents to $34.50.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 2.44 points to 801.68
All 12 TSX subgroups were higher Monday, led by real-estate, stronger by 1.5%, while health-care and information technology each climbed 0.9%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed mostly flat on Monday after a choppy session, with telecommunications lagging, as investors geared up for two key central bank meetings.
The Dow Jones Industrials eased back 3.63 points to 18,120.17, with 3M leading advancers and Intel the top decliner.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.04 points to 2,139.12, with telecommunications falling about 0.7% and with real-estate kicking off its first day as a sector in the index.
The NASDAQ Composite finished in the red 9.54 points to 5,235.03, as Apple fell 1.2%
Stateside, the latest read on the Housing Market Index showed homebuilder sentiment spiked to its highest level in nearly a year.
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 fell a bit, raising yields to 1.71% from Friday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened 22 cents at $43.25 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices jumped $6.20 at $1,316.40 U.S. an ounce.
