Markets in Toronto emerged from morning doldrums by noon EDT Monday, and surged into positive country.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index picked up 35.64 points to pause for lunch at 14,395.02.
The Canadian dollar ditched 0.07 cents to 71.13 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks ruled the roost Monday morning, with Cronos Group gaining 60 cents, or 7.1%, to $9.04, while Canopy Growth advanced $1.20, or 5.7%, to $22.36.
Tech stocks also gained ground, with Sierra Wireless surging 76 cents, or 6.5%, to $12.39, while OceanaGold Corporation taking on 19 cents, or 10.6%, to $1.98.
Utilities did not fare so well, though, as Brookfield Renewable Partners slid $2.90, or 4.4%, to $63.26, while Boralex dipped $1.20, or 4.3%, to $26.91.
Among consumer discretionary issues, Restaurant Brands International demurred $1.66, or 2.6%, to $62.86, while Linamar sifted off 85 cents, or 2.5%, to $32.99.
In the real-estate sector, Killam Apartment REIT let go of 53 cents, or 3.1%, to $16.66, while Choice Properties REIT dipped 31 cents, or 2.3%, to $13.08.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada said wholesale trade rose 0.7% to $67.5 billion in February, a third consecutive monthly gain. The agency went on to say three of seven sub-sectors recorded higher sales, accounting for 51% of total wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange changed direction and poked ahead 1.15 points to 446.02.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were better, as health-care and information technology each grew 2%, while gold gathered 1.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by utilities, down 1.5%, while consumer discretionary and real-estate plunged 0.8% each.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell to start the week on Monday as investors weighed the latest coronavirus news along with a decline in U.S. crude prices. The market was coming off its first back-to-back weekly gains in more than two months.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off its lows of the morning, but remaining negative 155.2 points, or 1.6%, to reach midday at 24,087.29. Chevron and Exxon Mobil fell more than 1% each to pressure the Dow.
The S&P 500 descended 8.47 points, or 1.2%, to 2,866.09. Real estate and utilities led the S&P 500 lower.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 28.08 points to 8,678.22, as stocks benefiting from people staying home rose broadly. Amazon and Netflix rose 2.2% and 4.8%, respectively, while Roku climbed more than 6%. The Dow and S&P 500 were also off their lows.
A fall in energy prices raised concerns about how deep the economic slowdown will be this quarter. The May contract for West Texas Intermediate, which expires on Tuesday, plunged more than 44% to $10.10 per barrel on weak demand outlook and storage capacity issues.
Stocks got a jolt last week after a report said patients with severe virus symptoms were quickly recovering after using remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug. The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all rose more than 2% last week.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday the state is “past the high point” of new cases, noting the infection rate has fallen along with coronavirus-related hospitalizations. Cuomo added New York will roll out antibody testing this week. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said Saturday: “We’re flattening the curve.”
In Washington, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration and Congress were close to striking a deal on a second round of loans for small businesses. A $349-billion rescue loan program ran out of money on Thursday.
But while the market may be pricing in an improvement in the virus outbreak, recent economic data has been dismal. Over the past month, 22 million jobs have been lost, weekly unemployment claims numbers from the Labor Department showed.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths has also risen to more than 165,000 globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., the death toll has risen to over 41,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury continued to gain, lowering yields to 0.64% from Friday’s 0.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices plummeted $7.92 to $12.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $10.90 to $1,709.70 U.S. an ounce.
