Canada’s main stock index opened marginally higher on Monday, supported by utilities stocks, while investors remained cautious ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data this week.
The TSX Composite gathered 52.12 points to begin the week at 21,061.72.
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.03 cents at 74.30 cents U.S.
Earnings from Canada’s largest insurer Manulife Financial, e-commerce platform Shopify and gold miner Barrick Gold, among others, this week are also in focus.
Manulife shares took on six cents to $30.47, Shopify, for its part, gained 26 cents to $122.37, while Barrick shares docked two cents to $19.70.
PrairieSky Royalty is set to report its quarterly earnings after the bell on Monday. Prairie Sky shares galloped 36 cents, or 1.6%, to $22.41.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.45 points, or 1%, to 552.04.
All but three of the 12 subgroups were in the win column, with energy rumbling 1%, consumer discretionary stocks ahead 0.9%, and health-care up 0.8%.
The three laggards were industrials, falling 0.4%, while communications and information technology each lost 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks hovered near the flatline early Monday following a record-setting week for the S&P 500. Investors also looked ahead to key inflation data and earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained a slight 27.58 points to open Monday at 38,699.27.
The S&P 500 index burrowed ahead 2.42 points to 5,029.03.
The NASDAQ index advanced 22.47 points to 16,013.13.
Salesforce was the biggest drag on the Dow, with the cloud-based software stock sliding 1%. Shares of Hershey slid more than 2% following a downgrade to underweight from Morgan Stanley on the back of softer demand. On the other hand, Diamondback Energy rose 7% after announcing that it would acquire oil and gas producer Endeavor Energy Partners.
Some 61 names in the S&P 500 are set to report earnings in the week ahead, including gig economy stocks Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash. Companies such as AutoNation, Kraft Heinz, Hasbro and Coca-Cola will also shed light on the state of the U.S. consumer.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 4.19% from Friday’s 4.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were better by 17 cents to $77.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices floundered $9.20 to $2,039.10.