Equities in Canada advanced on Monday as energy shares rose on firmer oil prices, with signs of progress in COVID-19 treatment efforts bolstering sentiment.
The TSX regained 66.55 points to begin the week at 16,584.29,
The Canadian dollar ditched 0.02 cents to 75.84 cents U.S.
Northern Dynasty Minerals’ said its U.S. unit on Saturday denied a media report that said the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump plans to
block its proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska early next week.
Northern Dynasty shares tumbled 77 cents, or 40.3%, to $1.14.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on BRP Inc. to $70.00 from $60.00. BRP shares gained 93 cents, or 1.4%, to $67.93.
ATB Capital Markets raised the target price on Horizon North Logistics to $6.00 from $1.75. Horizon shares picked up 15 cents, or 3%, to $5.23.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Ballard Power Systems, which jumped 5.3% after brokerage Bernstein started coverage of the stock with an "outperform" rating. Ballard shares lost five cents to $21.34.
Its gains were followed by Pason Systems which rose 3.9% after RBC assumed coverage of the oil and gas services provider with a "sector perform" rating. Pason shares gained 27 cents, or 4.4%, to $6.38.
Aurora Cannabis fell 29 cents, or 2.3%, the most on the TSX, to $12.13, and the second-biggest decliner was Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, down 78 cents, or 4%, to $18.95.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regrouped 4.65 points, to kick off the week at 734.96.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green, with energy racing 2.2%, financials, ahead 1.1%, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.7%.
The three laggards were consumer staples and health-care, each sagging 0.3%, and information technology, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Monday, building on a record-setting week, as gains in tech shares and some developments on coronavirus treatments drove the bullish sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 272.99 points, or 1%, to open Monday at 28,203.32.
The S&P 500 strengthened 25.29 points to Friday’s all-time high, at 3,422.45.
The NASDAQ Composite added 57.41 points to Friday’s all-time peak, at 11,369.21.
Apple shares rose more than 1.5%. Amazon and Microsoft shares were also higher.
Monday’s early gains come as the number of new coronavirus cases continues to decline in the U.S. Since spiking by more than 64,000 cases, the number of new daily infections in the U.S. has not topped 49,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. On Sunday, there were less than 37,000 new confirmed cases.
On Sunday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, a treatment that uses blood plasma donated by people who’ve recovered from the virus.
President Donald Trump said at a news conference Sunday that the plasma treatment cuts the mortality rate by 35%.
The Trump administration is also considering fast-tracking an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed in the U.K. for use in the United States ahead of the nation’s upcoming presidential election, according to a Financial Times report.
Shares of airlines and cruise operators gained amid the coronavirus treatment developments. United Airlines rose by more than 1% along with Delta and Southwest. Carnival gained more than 2%. Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean advanced 1.3% each.
A seemingly unstoppable rally in major technology shares last week pushed the S&P 500 to levels above its previous record set before the pandemic. The broad equity benchmark posted its fourth straight positive week and closed at a fresh record on Friday.
Apple jumped more than 8% last week ahead of its four-for-one stock split, bringing its 2020 gains to nearly 70%. Those gains continued on Monday.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury progressed slightly, lowering yields to 0.62% from Friday’s 0.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened 33 cents to $42.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $4.80 to $1,951.80 U.S. an ounce.
