Canada’s main stock index inched higher on Monday as gains in energy and real estate stocks offset losses in utilities, while investor focus was on the upcoming U.S. midterm elections which will determine control of Congress.
The TSX Composite remained buoyant 35.89 points to break for lunch Monday at 19,445.70.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.05 cents to 74.05 cents U.S.
Among single stocks, Summit Industrial Income REIT jumped $4.64, or 25.9%, to $22.57 after Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Dream Industrial REIT said they were buying the company for about $4.46 billion. Dream Industrial, incidentally, moved higher 50 cents a unit, or 4.5%, to $11.60.
Cronos Group tumbled 41 cents, or 9.9% to $3.74, after the weed company reported a bigger-than-expected loss, hit by a weakening
Canadian dollar and lower cannabis flower sales in Canada.
SilverCrest Metals jumped 87 cents, or 12%, to $8.11 after it declared commercial production at its Las Chispas site.
Equipment marketplace Ritchie Bros Auctioneers tumbled $17.18, or 24.4%, to $66.89 after it said it would buy U.S.-based IAA Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $7.3 billion including debt.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched forward 1.05 points to 594.75
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by noon EST, led by real-estate, ahead 3.5%, information technology, jumping 1.1%, and energy, rumbling 0.8%.
The four laggards were weighed most by utilities, falling 1.2%, consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.4%, and materials, slipping 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Monday as a packed week kicked off, with congressional midterm elections and key inflation data on deck over the next few days.
The 30-stock index jumped 210.48 points to move into noon hour at 32,613.70.
The S&P 500 advanced 6.66 points to 3,777.21
The NASDAQ fell 15.9 points to 10,458.35.
Shares of Apple fell more than 1% after the tech company said iPhone production has been temporarily reduced because of COVID-19 restrictions in China. Palantir shares, meanwhile, declined more than 9% after the company posted disappointing quarterly results. Carvana tumbled 11%, after falling more than 20% earlier in the day.
Facebook parent Meta gained more than 5% following a Wall Street Journal report that said the company could start layoffs as soon as Wednesday. McDonald’s was trading at all-time highs, up roughly 1%.
Tuesday’s mid-term election will determine which party will control Congress, and impact the direction of future spending. Democrats currently control the House, and have a majority in the Senate.
Investors could approve of a potential gridlock that may come out of the midterm elections as a Democratic president, with a Republican or split Congress, has historically meant above-average gains, according to experts.
Treasury prices gave up its gains, raising yields to 4.22% from Friday’s 4.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 49 cents to $93.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $4.30 to $1,680.90 U.S. an ounce.