Stocks in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Monday, helped by gains in energy shares due to a rise in oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index 43.84 points to begin the session at 16,027.16
The Canadian dollar regained 0.06 cents to 78.39 cents U.S.
Aurora Cannabis Inc will buy rival MedReleaf Corp for $3.2 billion, adding to what is already the biggest of Canada's quickly expanding marijuana producers.
Aurora shares picked up 11 cents, or 1.4%, to $8.18.
Brookfield Asset Management made a $3.3-billion approach for Australian hospital group Healthscope, trumping a local buyout proposal and sending shares of the target up to a two-year high on Monday.
Brookfield shares improved 39 cents to $52.25.
National Bank of Canada resumed coverage on Metro Inc. with a sector perform rating. Metro shares added 26 cents to $41.18.
CIBC cut the rating on Total Energy Services to neutral from outperform. Total shares tailed off 25 cents, or 2%, to $12.43.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.3 points to 789.21
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were up in Monday’s first hour, as health-care flourished 2.4%, energy rumbled 1.2% higher, and information technology clicked 0.6% higher
The two laggards were industrials, off 0.1%, and gold, sliding 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded higher on Monday amid hopes of a potential breakthrough in trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved higher by 90.21 points to 24,921.38, with UnitedHealth and Pfizer as the best-performing stocks in the index.
The S&P 500 gained 9.4 points to 2,737.12, with energy, health-care and tech outperforming.
The NASDAQ vaulted 37.42 points to 7,440.30
President Donald Trump pledged Sunday to help Chinese technology firm ZTE Corp to "get back into business, fast" after a U.S. ban had significantly hampered the Asian company.
Trump's tweet on Sunday came ahead of second round of trade talks between the U.S. and China this week. Trade officials are seeking to find a way to resolve an ongoing trade dispute, although Beijing has already said it will not change its current position over the coming days.
Optical component makers saw their stocks jump on Trump's ZTE news, with Oclar rising 5.5%, Lumentum up 3.8%, and Finisar rising 2.2% respectively. Acacia Communications also surged 12.8%.
Chip stocks rose Monday after a report said Chinese regulators will restart a review of the proposed acquisition of NXP Semiconductors by Qualcomm. NXP shares jumped 10% on the news, while Qualcomm's stock gained 2.5%.
In corporate news Monday, Xerox fell more than 8% after the company abandoned a $6.1-billion deal with Japanese firm Fujifilm as part of a settlement between Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dipped slightly, raising yields to 3% from Friday’s 2.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 34 cents a barrel to $71.04 U.S.
Gold prices fell 40 cents to $1,319.90 U.S. an ounce.
