Equities in Toronto struggled their way into the green by the close of Monday market, largely on the strength of consumer and financial issues.
The TSX edged up 14.32 points to conclude trading Monday at 30,275.06
Meanwhile, markets also kept an eye on U.S.-Canada tensions after Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday he apologized to U.S. President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff political ad, and urged Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to run it.
The ad had prompted Trump to announce higher tariffs on Canadian goods and led Washington to halt trade talks with Ottawa.
Teck Resources lost 17 cents to $60.00, after activist fund Palliser Capital intensified pressure on Rio Tinto to mount a "now-or-never" counterbid for the company, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Air Canada gained 41 cents, or 2.2% to $18.85, ahead of its quarterly results.
Consumer discretionary stocks led gainers, with Pet Valu Holdings acquiring 76 cents, or 2.2%, to $35.56, while Magna International hiked $2.89, or 4.4%, to $69.66.
In financial issues, iA Financial rocketed $2.10, or 1.3%, to !67.66, while Manulife triumphed 91 cents, or 2.1%, to $46.23.
Utilities also performed well, with Brookfield Renewable Partners flourishing $1.45, or 3.4%, to $44.20, while Capital Power shares took on $3.59, or $3.7, or $73.59.
Real-estate led the markets downward toward the closing bell, with FirstService down $2.22, or 1%, to $221.04, while Allied Properties REIT units sagged 41 cents, or 2.8%, to $14.37.
In consumer staples, Canada Packers slumped 49 cents, or 2.9%, to $16.24, while Alimentation Couche-Tard removed $1.65, or 2.3%, to $69.63.
In industrials, RB Global lost $2.19, or 1.6%, to $136.97, while those for ATS Corporation lost 63 cents, or 1.6%, to $37.95.
On the economic schedule, Markit Canada said Manufacturing PMI in Canada climbed to 49.6 points in October from 47.7 points in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange ducked 24.71 points, or 2.6%, to 933.17.
All but four of the 12 subgroups were lower, with real-estate down 0.8%, while consumer staples and industrials lost 0.5% each.
The four gainers were led by consumer discretionary, affirming themselves 0.9%, financials, up 0.5%, and utilities, better by 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite rose on Monday as investors moved further into the artificial intelligence trade following a number of deal announcements.
The Dow Jones Industrials weakened 226.19 points Monday to 47,336.68, bogged down by a decline in shares of UnitedHealth.
The much broader index forged ahead 11.77 points to 6,851.97.
The NASDAQ pumped higher 109.77 points to 23,834.72.
“Magnificent Seven” name Amazon supported the market, with shares rallying 4% after the company reached a $38-billion deal with OpenAI.
Notably, the partnership will utilize hundreds of thousands of Nvidia’s graphics processing units.
Shares of chipmakers saw a boost as well Monday after data center company Iren reached a multiyear $9.7-billion deal with Microsoft to provide the megacap technology company access to Nvidia GB300 GPUs.
Micron Technology gained 5% to lead chip stocks higher, while Nvidia was up 2%.
Shares of Iren, meanwhile, were last up 12%.
Nvidia shares continued to move higher Monday following Microsoft’s announcement that it has secured export licenses from the Trump administration to ship Nvidia chips to the United Arab Emirates.
The company added that its total UAE investment will amount to $15.2 billion by the end of 2029.
Outside of technology stocks, however, little was gaining in the trading day, as more than 400 stocks in the S&P 500 were in the red.
This weak breadth has been an ongoing concern of the market, with more stocks in the major benchmark declining than rising in October, even as the AI trade pushed it higher for the month.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged Monday, raising yields to 4.11% from Friday’s 4.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eked higher two cents to $61.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $25.00 to $4,021.50 U.S. an ounce.
