Equities in Canada’s largest centre again surged into the green on Monday, as strength in health-care issues dwarfed losses in gold.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 36.35 to conclude Monday at 14,975.53
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.05 cents to 75.32 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks proved king of the castle Monday, as Aurora Cannabis leaped 52 cents, or 6.1%, to $8.99, while Canopy Growth vaulted $6.32, or 12.5%, to $57.10
Among industrial stocks, Canadian National Railways picked up $2.31, or 2.2%, to $108.29, while Air Canada got lift of 29 cents, or 1.1%, to $27.51.
In the consumer staples sector, Loblaw Companies tacked on 17 cents to $64.03
In the gold area, buyout target Goldcorp gained $1.02, or 7.9%, to $13.88, while Barrick Gold dumped 23 cents, or 1.4%, to $16.29, and Kinross Gold shed five cents, or 1.2%, to $4.21.
Utilities stocks lost strength, as Hydro One docked 23 cents, or 1.1%, to $20.45, while Fortis lost 23 cents to $45.19.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Canada Goose lost 90 cents, or 1.4%, to $62.54, while Canadian Tire faded 24 cents to $144.05.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 1.15 points to 602.92
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups improved on the day, with health-care stocks sprinting 4.9%, while industrials took on 1.3%, and consumer staples gained 0.5%
The five laggards were weighed the most by gold, sinking 1.1%, utilities, off 0.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Monday as the U.S. corporate earnings season kicked off. Concerns over an economic slowdown in China also dampened sentiment to start off the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 86.11 points to finish at 23,909.84, as Merck and Apple lagged.
The S&P 500 sank 13.65 points to 2,582.61, as the tech, health-care and utilities sectors underperformed.
The NASDAQ Composite stumbled 65.56 points to 6,905.92.
Monday also marked the first time in 2019 that the major averages posted two straight losses.
Shares of Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet all closed down at least 1%. The S&P 500 tech sector also dropped 0.9%.
Corporate profits grew massively in the first three quarters of last year, expanding by at least 25% in those time periods. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have grown by 12.6% in the fourth quarter,
The calendar fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off on Monday, with Citigroup reporting stronger-than-expected earnings. However, the bank also said its fixed-income trading revenue fell 21%
Investors were also worried after fresh data out on Monday showed December exports and imports dropping unexpectedly in China. These figures deepened concerns of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were recovered, lowering yields back to Friday’s 2.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices dipped 96 cents to $50.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $2.40 to $1,291.90 U.S. an ounce.
