Equities End Positive

Stocks in Toronto salvaged what strength they could Monday, as issues in tech and real-estate came to life near the session’s end.

The TSX Composite Index fought its way upward 41.31 points to close Monday at 23,998.13.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.09 cents to 73.93 cents U.S.

In corporate news, the Toronto-Dominion Bank is nearing a possible guilty plea on criminal charges that its U.S. unit failed to curb money laundering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The lending giant greeted Monday’s final bell down 16 cents to $85.52.

International Petroleum ended the session down 62 cents, or 3.7%, to $15.97, while First Majestic Silver gave up 51 cents, or 2.7%, to $18.44, and Aya Gold & Silver sank 68 cents, or 3.7%, to $17.60.

In the tech sector, BlackBerry shone 19 cents, or 5.6%, to $3.56, while Converge Tech Solutions rumbled 22 cents, or 5%, to $4.62.

In real-estate, Colliers International barreled ahead $4.61, or 2.3%, to $205.25, while Storagevault copped 11 cents, or 2.2%, to $5.17.

Industrials were positive, too, with Bombardier jumping $2.52, or 2.5%, to $102.91.

Gold and materials let the side down, though, as Aya Gold slid 68 cents, or 3.7%, to $17.60, while Centerra Gold down 32 cents, or 3.2%, to $9.71. SSR Mining forked over 38 cents, or 4.7%, to $7.68.

Utilities swooned, as Superior Plus fell 15 cents, or 2%, to $7.44, while Capital Power withered 68 cents, or 1.4%, to $49.17.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 2.2 points to conclude Monday to 580.94.

Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, led by information technology, ahead 1%, while real-estate surged 0.9%, and industrials acquired 0.6%.

The four laggards were weighed most by gold, slumping 1.5%, materials, dumping 1.2%, and utilities, off 0.3%.

ON WALLSTREET

The S&P 500 ticked higher on Monday as the market neared the end of what’s looking like a winning month and quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dug itself out of the red to advance 17.15 points and wind up Monday 42,330.15.

The S&P 500 index regrouped 24.26 points to 5,762.43

The NASDAQ Composite regained 69.58 points to 18,189.17.

Stocks rallied into the close, erasing loses seen after commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. He said Monday that more decreases could be forthcoming, but cautioned that the central bank did not have a preset path. If the economy moves as expected, he said to expect two rate cuts of a quarter percentage point each remaining this year.

Month to date, the Dow and the S&P 500 are up nearly 2% each. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has advanced 2.7% in September.

The Dow was on track to finish the quarter more than 8% higher. The S&P 500 added 5.5% and the NASDAQ climbed 2.5%, since July began.

Shares of 3M surged more than 33% on the quarter, leading the blue-chip average higher. That would mark its best quarter on record going back to the early 1970s.

Looking ahead, October has a troubling history for markets. It’s known as a time of extreme volatility with some of the more notable Wall Street drawdowns occurring during the month.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged to raise yields to 3.79% from Friday’s 3.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices gained nine cents at $68.27 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices flopped $15.10 to $2,653 U.S. an ounce

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