Equities in Canada’s biggest market rose to a fresh 19-month high on Monday, led by a jump in energy stocks after the world's top crude producers agreed to the first joint output cut since 2001.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 39.69 points to start off the week at 15,351.89
The Canadian dollar added 0.35 cents to 76.22 cents U.S.
KBW raised the price target on Bank of Montreal to $95.00 from $85.00, to reflect the company’s better underwriting, advisory, trading revenue and a lower provision.
BMO shares fell 21 cents to start the day at $95.99.
Energy stocks proved a strong minority among gaining subgroups, as Baytex Energy sprinted 77 cents, or 12%, to $7.19, while MEG Energy bolted higher $1.05, or 12.7%, to $9.32.
Industrial issues held things up, however, as Magna International dropped 31 cents to $61.53, while Canadian National Railway retreated $2.25, or 2.5%, to $89.39.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 5.35 points to 754.15
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups opened the session lower, with industrials dropping 1.1%, information technology doffing 0.5%, and gold dulling 0.4%.
The three gainers were energy, shooting higher 3.9%, health-care, inching up 0.4%, and real-estate, eking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mixed on Monday as Treasury yields spiked ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting while oil prices soared on an output deal between members and even non-members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The Dow Jones Industrials added to Friday’s all-time high, strengthening 52.86 points to 19,809.71, with Chevron and ExxonMobil contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 3.1 points to 2,262.72, also hitting record levels, with energy rising more than 2% to lead advancers
The NASDAQ composite index, however, shed 13.63 points to 5,430.87
In corporate news, shares of Lockheed Martin fell more than 3% in early trade after Trump said in a tweet the F-35 program was too expensive. Meanwhile, the proposed merger between CBS and Viacom was withdrawn by Shari Redstone, the vice chair of the board for both companies.
After nearly a year of wrangling, OPEC agreed on Nov. 30 to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day for six months from Jan. 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting around 486,000 barrels per day to curb the oversupply that has dogged markets for two years.
On Saturday, producers from outside OPEC, led by Russia, agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day, short of the target of 600,000 barrels per day but still the largest contribution by non-OPEC ever.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note continued their descent, raising yields to 2.5% from Friday’s 2.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gushed $2.21 to $53.71 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slid 40 cents to $1,161.50 U.S. an ounce.
