Canada’s main stock index sat flat on Monday as energy stocks fell with oil prices
At 11:31 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 1.68 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 16,041.11.
Energy stocks sat down 2.1 per cent. Cenovus Energy Inc. fell 5.1 per cent, while Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was down 3.1 per cent.
In the oil market, U.S. crude fell 1.46 per cent to $64.85 per barrel and Brent was last at $75.46, down 1.73 per cent on the day.
Shares of Royal Bank of Canada, up 0.9 per cent, and Bank of Montreal, up 0.6 per cent, provided the biggest boost to the financial group.
Energy stocks sat down 2.1 per cent. Cenovus Energy Inc. fell 5.1 per cent, while Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was down 3.1 per cent.
Six 11 of the index’s major sectors were higher, boosted by the financial sector which added 0.3 per cent.
Stocks on world indexes and Treasury yields climbed on Monday, while the dollar fell to a two-week low as political tensions in Europe eased.
Italy’s anti-establishment parties formed a coalition government on Friday to end three months of political deadlock.
Italian bond yields fell after soaring last week on fears a snap election would be called that might effectively become a referendum on euro membership.
The spread on Spanish bond yields over benchmark German Bunds also narrowed after a new prime minister was sworn in in Madrid, though Socialist Pedro Sanchez’s minority administration faces a tough baptism from a revived independence drive in Catalonia.
U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors pared their safe-haven holdings of lower-risk government debt amid reduced anxiety about the political turmoil in Italy and Spain.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 6/32 in price to yield 2.9168 per cent, from 2.895 percent late on Friday.
The dollar index fell 0.13 per cent, with the euro up 0.21 per cent to $1.1685.
“With European political drama retreating from the brink, the peak in the dollar index was likely observed at 95,” said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist, at TD Securities in New York.
Lingering trade disputes will also contribute to a challenging backdrop for the U.S. dollar in the weeks ahead, he added.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday led by gains in technology shares and helped by Friday’s robust jobs data, which gave investors heightened confidence that the U.S. economy remained strong.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.7 points, or 0.71 pe cent, to 24,809.91, the S&P 500 gained 8.01 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 2,742.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 25.92 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 7,580.25.
Ten of the 11 main S&P indexes were trading higher.
Apple rose 1 per cent, providing the biggest boost to Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes.
The iPhone maker was valued at $935.06 billion as of Friday’s close, inching its way towards becoming the first publicly listed company worth $1-trillion, ahead of its annual developers conference.
Boeing rose 1.3 percent, the biggest boost to the Dow, after the planemaker said it would partner with French aerospace firm Safran SA to make and service aircraft parts.
Nektar Therapeutics slumped 39.7 per cent after mixed results from its experimental cancer drug with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo disappointed investors and weighed heavily on the S&P healthcare index. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s was 5.8 per cent lower.
Merck gained about 1.9 per cent after latest data showed its cancer drug Keytruda improved survival as a stand-alone treatment for a type of lung cancer.
Among other stocks, Facebook fell 0.5 per cent on a New York Times report that claimed the company had allowed Apple and other major device makers “deep” access to users’ personal data.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.54 per cent. European shares rose 0.22 per cent.
While the risk of political crisis receded in Europe, concerns over a possible global trade war rumbled on in the background.
Finance ministers of the closest U.S. allies vented their anger on Saturday over Washington’s imposition of metal import tariffs, setting the tone for a heated G7 summit in Quebec.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week plays host to a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations with six of the seven members outraged at the United States over a slew of recent moves by President Trump.
Mr. Trudeau, who wants the June 8-9 meeting to focus on economic growth, insists he can handle the challenge, though insiders and analysts say he will have to fight to keep the grouping together at a time when Trump’s trade and diplomatic moves have isolated the United States and risk undermining the G7’s relevance.
Washington also remained at odds with Beijing after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. China warned the United States on Sunday that any bilateral agreements reached on trade and business would be void if Washington implemented tariffs and other trade measures.
But this did not stop Asian shares from rallying. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 1.39 per cent higher, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.37 per cent.
Reuters