Equities in Canada’s biggest market rose for the third straight day on Monday, led by the health-care and gold groups, while shares of BlackBerry climbed as it opened an autonomous driving research centre.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 39.09 points to pause for noon at 15,291.29
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.66 cents to 74.61 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Brookfield Asset Management Inc, which rose 0.5% to $44.86, and Canadian National Railway, which advanced 0.6% to $90.00
Among industrial concerns, there is news out Monday that Brazil will challenge government funding for Bombardier at the World Trade Organization (WTO), escalating the latest trade spat between the Canadian jet maker and its Brazilian rival Embraer SA.
Still, Bombardier's shares rose more than 5% for the second straight day, up 5.9% at $2.17.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd has agreed to buy Swiss insurer Allied World Assurance Company Holdings AG for $4.9 billion in cash and stock.
Shares of Fairfax fell 2% to $601.95.
BlackBerry opened an autonomous driving research centre, trying to make itself an indispensable under-the-hood piece of the automotive industry's weaponry in the self-driving vehicle arms race.
Shares of the Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone pioneer rose 3.7% to $10.48, while CGI Group Inc climbed 1.8% to $64.14.
Health-care rumbled ahead, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc jumping 5.2% to $19.82.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength, with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd rising 4% at $51.71.
Copper producer First Quantum Minerals fell 1.3% to $14.09.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 9.24 points, or 1.3%, to 725.98
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground with health-care zooming 4.8%, gold up 1.6% and information technology gaining 1.1%.
The three lagging groups were consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.3%, utilities, slipping 0.2%, and consumer staples, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher Monday as traders bought some recently less-favored sectors, such as technology.
The Dow Jones Industrials retained 30.11 points in gains to 19,873.52, with Walt Disney the greatest advancer and Merck the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 gained 4.46 points to 2,262.53, with real estate and telecoms leading eight sectors higher and financials the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ composite index gained 26.8 points to 5,463.96
Tech and real estate — among the greatest laggards in the S&P 500 since Election Day — were top market performers in late morning trade. The NASDAQ 100 hit a fresh all-time intraday high, while the three major indexes traded about half a percent below their record highs.
Economically speaking, the flash U.S. Markit Purchasing Managers Index services for December came in at 53.4, down slightly from 54.6 in November.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak on the job market in the afternoon at a University of Baltimore commencement.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note sprinted ahead, lowering yields to 2.53% from Friday’s 2.6%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 11 cents to $52.01 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices improved $4.90 to $1,142.30 U.S. an ounce.
