Equities in Canada’s largest centre began Monday with minimal gains, despite rising tensions in the Middle East over the killing of a top Iranian commander by the United States last week.
The TSX Composite Index squeezed up 2.95 points to 17,069.07
The Canadian dollar regained 0.03 cents to 77.01 cents U.S.
Scotiabank raises target price on Hudson's Bay Company to $11.00 from $10.30. Bay shares hiked 96 cents, or 9.7%, to $10.84.
RBC resumed coverage on CAE Inc. with an outperform rating and price target of $39.00. CAE gathered 48 cents, or 1.4%, to $35.10.
BMO raised the target price on Onex to $100.00 from $95.00. Onex shares picked up 26 cents to $84.33.
PI financial raised the target price on Celestica Inc. to $12.30 from $8.80. Celestica lost two cents to $10.61.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada’s industrial product price index edged up 0.1% in November, mainly because of higher prices for meat, fish and dairy products.
The Raw Materials Price Index was up 1.5% in November, primarily because of higher prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.32 points to 589.76
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower to begin the week, as health-care docked 1%, and the industrial and financials sectors each dumped 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by gold, ahead 1.7%, energy, gaining 1.3%, and materials, picking up 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell for a second straight session on Monday as concerns over geopolitical tensions between Iran and the U.S. remained high following last week’s assassination of a top Iranian military leader.
The Dow Jones Industrials suffered a loss of 125.3 points to 28,509.58
The S&P 500 slipped 6.73 points to 3,228.12
The NASDAQ sank 18.07 points to 9,002.70.
Airline stocks declined on worries over higher fuel costs sparked by rising oil prices. American and Delta slid more than 1% each while United fell 0.8%. Retailers such as Dollar Tree also pulled back 2.2%. Dollar Tree was also downgraded by an analyst at Loop Capital.
Energy stocks such as EOG Resources and Hess got a boost from higher crude prices, as both traded more than 1% higher.
President Donald Trump said Sunday he could slap sanctions on Iraq after its parliament passed a resolution calling for the government to expel foreign troops from the country.
Meanwhile, the Iranian regime said Sunday it would not abide by the uranium-enrichment limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, in terms of data, there was to be service sector Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Monday morning.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury gained ground, weighing yields to 1.77% from Friday’s 1.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 38 cents to $63.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $22.60 at $1,575 U.S. an ounce.
