TSX Pulls More Positives out of the Hat

Equities in Canada’s largest market enjoyed solid, if unspectacular, gains Monday, powered mostly by strength in the tech field.

The TSX Composite regained 57.27 points by the close to 20,985.37.

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.43 cents to 80.78 cents U.S.

Techs pointed the way among gaining subgroups, with Constellation Software popping $57.21, or 2.6%, to $2,222.38, while Shopify jumping $43.27, or 2.5%, to $1,806.64.

In the industrial sector, WSP Global picked up $3.09, or 1.9%, to $166.34, while Russel Metals were in the plus column 53 cents, or 1.6%, to $33.53.

In consumer staples, Premium Brands Holdings triumphed $1.58, or 1.2%, to $133.02, while Loblaw Companies were better by 95 cents, or 1%, to $93.11.

Energy did not pull its weight, though, as Birchcliff Energy fainted 22 cents, or 3.2%, to $6.68, and Tourmaline Oil staggered $1.24, or 2.8%, to $42.92.

In the health-care sector, Organigram Holdings thundered lower six cents, or 2.2%, to $2.72, while Cronos Group lost 12 cents, or 1.8%, to $6.65.

Gold also got punished, notably, New Gold, subtracting eight cents, or 4.7%, to $1.61, while Nova Gold shed 29 cents, or 3.1%, to $9.16.

On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported foreign investors acquired $26.3 billion of Canadian securities in August, mainly in the form of debt securities. At the same time, Canadian investors resumed their purchases of foreign securities, adding $15.2 billion worth to their portfolios in August.

What’s more, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation told investors housing starts decreased to 251,200 units in September from 262,800 units in August.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's newest minority government is set to impose higher taxes on Canadians, which will help fund some campaign promises but are not broad enough to also start paying down the country's record levels of debt, leaving Canada vulnerable to the next economic crisis.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange eked higher 0.14 points to 937.81.

Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower Monday, with energy shedding 1.2%, health-care skidding 1%, and gold stocks off 0.6%.

The five gainers were led by information technology, surging 0.9%, and industrials, up 0.6%, and consumer staples, up 0.5%.

ON WALLSTREET

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Stocks rebounded on Monday after opening lower, as investors bet on a continuation of strong earnings reports from major companies. Tesla and Netflix gained ahead of third-quarter reports later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrials fell 36.15 points to 35,258.61.

The S&P 500 recovered 15.09 points to 4,486.46.

The NASDAQ Composite gained 124.47 points to 15,021.81.

So far 41 S&P 500 components have reported third-quarter results, with 80% of them topping EPS expectations. Taking into account the companies that have already reported and estimates for the rest, third-quarter profit growth will total 30%, the third highest quarterly growth rate for S&P 500 companies since 2010.

A number of big names are set to report in the week ahead, including Netflix, Johnson & Johnson, United Airlines and Procter & Gamble on Tuesday. Tesla, Verizon and IBM are among the other names on deck for the week.

Disney shares lost more than 3% after Barclays downgraded the stock and predicted streaming subscriber growth will slow.

A few things dented sentiment on Monday. Overnight, China reported gross domestic product that disappointed, coming in at 4.9% annual growth in the third quarter. That was short of the 5.3% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters. Industrial production in China last month also fell short of expectations.

U.S. industrial production declined in September too, falling almost 1.28% to its lowest level since February, when it fell 3.02%.

Prices for 10-year Treasurys lost some ground, raising yields to 1.59% from Friday’s 1.58 %. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices picked up seven cents to $82.35 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices settled $32.40 to $1,764.80 U.S. an ounce.

S&P, NASDAQ 4th Straight Day of Gains