Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday as financial stocks pushed higher with bond yields ahead of an expected U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike and as some mining stocks gained from higher commodity prices.
Toronto-Dominion Bank was among the most influential gainers, recovering somewhat after a sharp fall on Friday following media reports that staff had been put under pressure to meet sales targets.
TD defended its business practices on Friday and on Sunday reiterated its position that the environment described in CBC news reports, which suggested that customers were moved to higher-fee accounts or had their overdraft and credit card limits increased without their knowledge, was at odds with its practices.
TD rose 1.5 percent to C$66.96 after falling 5.6 percent on Friday, and most other major banks also gained, helping the financials group add 0.4 percent overall.
Financial technology company DH Corp rose 9.2 percent to C$25.16, after Vista Equity Partners said it would take the company private in a C$4.8 billion deal.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 38.14 points, or 0.25 percent, at 15,544.82. Eight of its 10 main groups gained.
Rick Hutcheon, president and chief operating officer at RKH Investments, said he saw little reason for the index to push back up toward the record high touched in February.
“The rally that we’ve had is petering out. It’s not that it’s going to come crashing down but it needs some time to consolidate and get used to the level we’re at,” he said.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.5 percent.
Base metal miner Teck Resources Ltd advanced 2.7 percent to C$27.52 as copper and other industrial metal prices rose with a strike at Peru’s top copper mine adding to supply disruptions caused by a month-long stoppage at mines in Chile and Indonesia.
Gold miners were mostly higher as bullion steadied, caught between political uncertainty in Europe and the prospect of U.S. rate rises later this week.
The energy group inched 0.1 percent higher as oil hovered around three-month lows.
Encana Corporation (ECA) ended last trading session with a change of 2.7 percent. It trades at an average volume of 11.01M shares versus 13.48M shares recorded at the end of last trading session. The share price of $10.64 is at a distance of 105.54 percent from its 52-week low and down -23.18 percent versus its peak. The company has a market cap of $10.5B and currently has 987.27M shares outstanding. The share price is currently -8.61 percent versus its SMA20, -13.54 percent versus its SMA50, and 2.38 percent versus its SMA200. The stock has a weekly performance of -6.99 percent and is -9.37 percent year-to-date as of the recent close.
Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX) recently recorded 0.38 percent change and currently at $18.27 is 40.83 percent away from its 52-week low and down -21.85 percent versus its peak. It has a past 5-day performance of 1.39 percent and trades at an average volume of 17.91M shares. The stock has a 1-month performance of -4.45 percent and is 14.5 percent year-to-date as of the recent close. There were about 1.17B shares outstanding which made its market cap $21.28B. The share price is currently -3.67 percent versus its SMA20, 0.88 percent versus its SMA50, and 0.83 percent versus its SMA200.