Canada's main stock index rose on Monday amid renewed hopes that the United States and China would soon resolve their trade dispute, after President Donald Trump said he would delay raising tariffs on Chinese imports.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 62.04 points to greet noon at 16,075.05
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.10 cents at 76 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold fell 23 cents, or 1.3%, to $16.90, after if offered to buy U.S. rival Newmont Mining for nearly $18 billion in stock, in a hostile takeover that seeks to combine the world's two largest gold producers.
Enerflex took on 77 cents, or 4.2%, to $19.33. This was followed by Cott Corp, which gained 54 cents, or 3% to $18.74
Cronos Group fell $1.33, or 4.6%, to $27.48 the most on the TSX, after Jefferies started coverage of stock with "underperform" rating.
The second biggest decliner was cannabis producer Aphria Inc, down 34 cents, or 2.6%, to $12.97.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.2 points to 624.47
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups continued positive, as industrials, financials and materials each climbed 0.7%.
The three laggards were health-care, down 0.9%, while energy and utilities each slipped 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Monday after President Donald Trump said he would delay placing additional tariffs on Chinese goods. Equities also got a boost from deal-making activity.
The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 164.52 points to 26,196.33, led by gains in Caterpillar and Intel.
The S&P 500 strengthened 14.19 points to 2,806.86, as the energy and financials sectors outperformed.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 50.67 points to 7,578.22
Trump said in a series of tweets the U.S. would not add more tariffs on imports from China at the start of March. He cited "substantial progress" in bilateral talks between the world's two largest economies, including intellectual property protection and technology transfer issues. However, he did not state a new deadline.
In the U.S., trade bellwethers Caterpillar and Boeing both rose more than 1%.
Sentiment was also lifted after General Electric announced it will sell its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher for $21.4 billion. News of the deal sent GE shares flying more than 9%. Danaher's stocks jumped 8%.
Meanwhile, Barrick Gold launched a bit to acquire Newmont Mining for $7 billion in an all-stock deal. If approved, the deal would come after years of stagnant gold prices. The precious metal has been trading between $1,000 and $1,400 per ounce in recent years.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury wilted, raising yields to 2.68% from Friday’s 2.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices settled $1.11 to $56.15 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices acquired 50 cents to $1,330.30 U.S. an ounce.
