Stocks in Toronto were not nearly as exuberant as their American cousins Monday, gaining, though not nearly as sharply.
The TSX Composite squeezed out 17.78 points worth of gains to conclude Monday at 20,924.30.
The Canadian dollar was lower 0.26 at 74.18 cents U.S.
Real-estate stocks led the parade of gainers, with Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT improving 12 cents, or 2.4%, to $5.17, while Allied Properties REIT units strengthened 44 cents, or 2.2%, to $20.45.
Health-care stocks moved higher as well, with Tilray better six cents, or 2.2%, to $2.75, while Bausch Health Companies grabbed 15 cents, or 1.4%, to $11.09.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Canada Goose soared 83 cents, or 5.4%, to $16.23, while Magna International roared ahead $1.88. or 2.6%, to $75.17.
Of those groups going the other way, Emera Inc. led utilities down 56 cents, or 1.6%, to $48.82, while Canadian Utilities retreated 33 cents, or 1%, to $31.34.
Consumer staples dipped, primarily Premium Brands, off $1.35, or 1.5%, to $92.03, while Maple Leaf Foods slipped 48 cents, or 1.8%, to $26.85.
In the communications sector, BCE backpedaled 80 cents, or 1.4%, to $55.19, while TELUS Corporation dished off nine cents to $24.53.
Investors look forward to the much-awaited Bank of Canada monetary policy meeting, due Wednesday, for the central bank’s direction on interest rate cuts.
The BoC is expected to leave its key overnight rate unchanged this time, but stubborn inflation has delayed the timeline for the first rate cut in almost four years.
Money market participants are now pricing in just over 22% chances of a cut in borrowing costs in March, while a majority of over 56% are expecting a cut in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange settled back 1.02 points to end Monday at 551.31.
Eight of the 12 subgroups were higher by the closing bell, with real-estate and health-care issues each up 0.8%, while consumer discretionary stocks picked up 0.5%.
The four laggards were weighed most by utilities and consumer staples, each down 0.4%, while communication stocks lost 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Monday as investors built on the previous session’s historic move to record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 138.01 points to 38,001.41, pushing above the 38,000 level for the first time ever.
The S&P 500 index hiked 10.62 points to 4,850.43, also reaching a fresh all-time high.
The NASDAQ rose 49.32 points to 15,360.29.
Macy’s rose more than 1% after rejecting a $5.8-billion proposal to take the retailer private. SolarEdge jumped more than 2% on the back of the company announcing it would lay off 16% of its workforce.
Archer-Daniels-Midland dropped more than 22% after issuing weak earnings guidance and placing CFO Vikram Luthar on leave amid an investigation tied to accounting practices. B Riley Financial slipped nearly 6% after Bloomberg reported that regulators are investigating deals with a client connected to securities fraud.
Traders are now pricing in a roughly 46% chance of a Fed rate cut in March. That marks a steep decrease from almost 81% a week earlier. There’s a nearly 54% likelihood that the central bank will keep rates steady, up from around 19% one week prior.
Investors will be closely watching a slate of economic reports due out this week, including gross domestic product data on Thursday and the personal consumption expenditures prices on Friday. Both reports could provide insight into how central bank policymakers view monetary policy moving forward.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.10% from Friday’s 4.13%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.60 to $74.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $6.90 to $2,022.40.