Toronto stocks enjoyed a triple-digit rally Monday, led by gains for resource stocks, while financials rose ahead of a string of bank results this week and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International jumped more than 4%.
The S&P/TSX composite index leaped 101.59 points to close the session and the month at 13,449.83.
The Canadian dollar marched 0.12 cents higher to 74.88 cents U.S.
Valeant added $5.13, or 4.5%, to $120.35 to lead the health-care sector up.
BlackBerry rose 21 cents, or 2%, to $10.62, after the company said it’s shuttering its Pakistan operations to avoid allowing authorities there to monitor its main business enterprise server and e-mail messages. There are as many as 5,000 BES customers in Pakistan.
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. rose 23 cents, or 2.8%, to $8.56, rebounding from the worst loss in almost two months. Suncor Energy said last week it may scrap its $4.5-billion hostile bid for the company if Alberta regulators endorse a poison pill that would give the target company more time to find other bidders. Suncor increased 62 cents, or 1.7%, to $36.90.
Bankers Petroleum Ltd fell 10 cents, or 6%, to $1.57, after it said it may have to curtail production in Albania due to a dispute with authorities.
A Reuters poll suggests that, after shocking markets with an interest rate cut at the start of the year, the Bank of Canada is expected to end 2015 by holding rates steady through next year and waiting for better U.S. growth to provide a boost.
Elsewhere on the macro scene, Canada’s current account deficit narrowed to $16.2 billion in the third quarter, the smallest this year, as merchandise exports jumped. Our weaker dollar – indeed, which has tumbled 13% this year -- constrained by the drop in oil prices, has given a lift to exporters.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved 1.46 points higher to end Monday at 523.47.
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, with gold soaring 2.7%, materials better by 2.4%, and health-care healthier 2%.
The pair of laggards proved to be consumer staples, down 0.6%, and utilities, clicking 0.3% lower.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower Monday, the last day of trade for November, as investors eyed retail results and readied for key data and central bank comments later in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 78.57` points to 17,719.92. Nike was the greatest weight on the Dow, while Chevron and IBM gained most. The Dow ended the month up about 0.3%.
The S&P 500 was down 9.4 points to 2,080.71. Consumer stocks were among the laggards in the S&P 500, with health care trading more than 1% lower as the greatest decliner. The S&P 500 eked out a roughly 0.05% gain for November.
The NASDAQ index moved lower 18.86 points to 5,108.67, or more than 1% for the month.
Apple and Microsoft traded more than 1% higher, while Amazon held slightly lower.
Ahead of Friday's release of the November employment report, the Chicago PMI for November came in at 48.7, down from October's 56.2 print.
The pending home sales figure for October from the National Association of Realtors rose by just 0.2%, ending two straight months of declines but far below expectations for a 1% rebound
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.21% from Friday’s 2.23%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices drooped 10 cents a barrel to $41.61 U.S.
Gold prices spiked $7.12 to $1,064.57 U.S. an ounce.
