Stocks on Bay Street turned positive Monday afternoon -- after spending most of the morning in negative territory -- as investors snapped up mining and energy shares.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 10.08 points to 9,244.19.
In corporate news -- Venezuelan oil and gas exploration and production firm PetroFalcon Corp. ended its agreement with Chevron Corp. to buy a 30 percent working interest in Chevron's Cardon III field, citing uncertainty in global markets.
Bombardier Inc. said on Monday it had signed contract worth up to $2.5 billion with German rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG for 800 train cars.
Nutritional supplement maker Atrium Innovations Inc. says it has struck an all-cash deal to buy Arizona-based Nutri-Health Supplements for $23.9 million.
On the data front -- American construction spending fell less than expected in November as record activity on non-residential projects helped offset another steep decline in housing. The U.S. Commerce Department says construction spending dropped by 0.6 percent in November, less than half of the 1.3 percent decline economists expected.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, traded 0.85 cents higher at 83.74 cents US.
BAYSTREET
Six of the TSX sub-groups traded higher this afternoon -- mining stocks gained 5.94 percent followed by a 3.05 percent rise in energy issues and a 1.30 percent climb in real-estate stocks.
On the downside -- gold stocks were off 6.54 percent; telecom issues were down 1.51 percent and consumer discretionary stocks were off 1.41 percent.
Gold gave up $30.30 to $849.20 US an ounce.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange was up 10.99 points to 857.68 and the NASDAQ Canada was ahead 18.45 points at 462.91.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Monday, breaking a three-day run of gains, ahead of data expected to illustrate declining car sales and as investors contended with underlying anxiety before Friday's jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 53 points at 8980, and the S&P 500 was losing 2 points at 929. The Nasdaq was shedding 8 points at 1623.
Shares of Apple Inc. gained 3.7 percent after Chief Executive Steve Jobs said he's undergoing treatment for a hormone imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. Jobs made his comments in an open letter to the Apple community.
J.P. Morgan raised its rating on Amazon.com Inc. to overweight from neutral. Shares of the online retailer were up 1 percent Monday morning.
The 10-year note was giving up 17/32 to yield 2.4 percent, and the 30-year was down 1 20/32 to yield 2.9 percent.
Oil was recently down 55 cents at $45.79 US a barrel.
