Canada’s commodity-heavy main stock index rose to a record high on Monday as rising crude prices lifted energy shares, even as the war in Ukraine has soured sentiment in global markets.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index zoomed 185.97 points, to break for lunch Monday at 22,004.44.
The Canadian dollar added 0.10 cents to 79.43 cents U.S.
A labour dispute that shut down operations at Canadian Pacific Railway on Sunday is set to aggravate a shortage of commodities sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a prolonged lockdown could hurt farmers ahead of the spring planting season.
CP shares came out of the red and gained 62 cents to $101.07.
Payfare gained 49 cents, or 9.1%, to $5.89 after Lyft Inc partnered with the fintech company to launch a cashback rewards program on all fuel purchases for U.S. Lyft drivers using a Lyft Direct debit card.
Among the hard-charging energy issues, Advantage Oil & Gas leaped 52 cents, or 7%, to $7.92, while Vermilion Energy surged $1.45, or 5.8%, to $26.53.
Barrick Gold gained 66 cents, or 2.2%, to $30.66. IAMGOLD Corporation raced 16 cents, or 3.9%, to $4.30.
In the health-care sector, which took the biggest knocks, Tilray ailed 24 cents, or 3.5%, to $6.72, while WELL Health Technologies dropped 15 cents, or 3.1%, to $4.75.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 9.67 points, or 1.1%, to 863.61.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by midday, with energy surging 3.4%, while gold and materials each took on 2.6%,
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.7%, while consumer discretionary and consumer staples shares sagged 0.5% each.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks seesawed Monday as the three major averages come off their best week in more than a year.
The Dow Jones Industrials saw its five-session win streak in danger, dropping 133.99 points by noon hour EDT to 34,620.94
The S&P 500 progressed 6.9 points to 4,470.02,
The NASDAQ Composite slipped 6.07 points to 13,887.77.
Last week, the three major averages notched their best week since November 2020, boosted largely by growth stocks.
Information technology and communications services were the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500 on Monday. Facebook parent Meta lost about 2% and Microsoft ticked marginally lower.
On Monday, Boeing dropped about 4% after a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane crashed, weighing on the Dow.
On the upside, energy stocks rallied Monday as oil prices rose. Occidental Petroleum and Marathon Oil were among the top gainers on the S&P 500, each rising roughly 8%.
Nike and Tencent Music report quarterly results after the market closes Monday.
Market participants are also monitoring the war between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned if peace talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin fail, it would mean the start of a “third world war.”
Ukrainian and Russian officials have met intermittently for peace talks, which have failed to progress to key concessions. Ukraine has also rejected an ultimatum to surrender the city of Mariupol to Russian troops.
Treasury prices plummeted, raising yields to 2.24% from Friday’s 2.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $5.41 to $110.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved $5.50 to $1,934.80 U.S. an ounce.