A man walks past an old Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) sign in Toronto, June 23, 2014Mark Blinc
Canada's main stock index recovered on Monday from Friday's five-month low, with nine of its 10 sectors in positive territory, taking their cue from a rebound in global stocks following a brutal week.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 179.33 points, or 1.16 per cent, at 15,208.72 at 11:25 a.m. ET.
Monday's gains came after a 3.66-per-cent drop in the index last week.
Energy stocks were up 1.1 per cent on the day, while materials stocks jumped 2.3 per cent.
Restaurant Brands International Inc., the parent company of Tim Hortons, was up 7 per cent after outperforming analyst expectations on profit for its fourth quarter.
Copper miner Ivanhoe Mines and Torex Gold Resources were among the biggest gainers on the index, jumping 7.6 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
Magna International Inc. was up 3 per cent, while Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 2.1 per cent.
U.S. stocks are posting solid gains Monday as technology and energy companies recover some of their recent losses. Banks, retailers and industrial companies are also climbing. Stocks rose Friday but still wound up with their worst week in two years following several days of turbulence. Europe markets are also rallying.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 21 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 2,641 as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 265 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 24,443. The Nasdaq composite climbed 67 points, or 1 per cent, to 6,941. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks was unchanged at 1,477.
It took just nine days for stocks to plunge 10 per cent from their latest peak set January 26. That's known on Wall Street as a market "correction." According to LPL Financial, it was the swiftest move from a record high to a correction for the S&P 500, the most widely used market benchmark. The index rose 1.5 per cent Friday but still wound up with its worst weekly loss in more than two years.
Defence contractor General Dynamics will spend almost $7-billion to acquire internet technology company CSRA. The Trump administration has been pushing defence spending aggressively higher. CSRA climbed $9.65, or 31.3 per cent, to $40.47 Monday. General Dynamics dipped $1.82 to $210.28.
Retailers, apparel makers and other companies that focus on consumers made some of the largest gains. They held up relatively well during the steep downturn over the last two weeks. On Monday General Motors picked up 60 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $42.06 and Netflix climbed $5.84, or 2.3 per cent, to $255.32. It's up 33 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Technology companies also rose. They have slumped recently after winning a big portion of the market's gains over the last year. Apple gained $4.83, or 3.1 per cent, to $161.24 while Cisco Systems rose $1.07, or 2.7 per cent, to $40.60. Chipmaker Applied Materials climbed 64 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $48.72.
Twenty-First Century Fox picked up 68 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $36.41 after The Wall Street Journal reported that cable and internet provider Comcast is still interested in buying Fox's entertainment divisions and could make another offer. Disney agreed to buy Fox's movie and television studios and some cable and international TV businesses in December for about $52.4 billion in stock. On Monday Comcast stock slipped 15 cents to $38.42 while Disney lost 7 cents to $103.02.
Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.85 per cent from 2.86 per cent.
High dividend companies continued to decline. Real estate investment trusts and utilities fared the worst. They have taken bigger losses than any other S&P 500 sectors this year. Hospital property company HCP fell 86 cents, or 3.7 per cent, to $22.35 and Boston Properties shed $3.48, or 3 per cent, to $111.87.
Globally, Germany's DAX jumped 1.6 per cent while the CAC 40 in France advanced 1.3 per cent. The FTSE 100 in Britain added 1.2 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.2 per cent and Seoul's Kospi rose 0.9 per cent. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.
Benchmark U.S. crude gained 67 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $59.87 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, advanced 45 cents to $63.24 a barrel in London.
Hess added 42 cents, or 1 per cent, to $42.54 and Occidental Petroleum picked up $1.34, or 2 per cent, to $69.52.
Oil prices have dropped since reaching long-time highs in late January, when U.S. crude peaked at $66 a barrel. The S&P 500 energy index is down 12 per cent over the last month.
With files from Reuters