Canadian Stocks Are Paring Early Gains -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is trading in the green Monday morning, but has pared its early gains. The healthcare sector is leading the gainers in early trade, after Valeant announced that it is searching for a new CEO. However, mining stocks are struggling due to weakness in commodity prices.

Markets in Europe have slipped back into the red Monday. After a weak start, the markets climbed into positive territory, but the gains proved short-lived. The markets have struggled with weakness in commodity prices during today's choppy trading session.

Markets in the United States are struggling to find direction as the hover around the flat line. Profit taking appears to be contributing to some early weakness on Wall Street, as some traders may look to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. The upcoming Easter holiday may also keep some traders away from their desks.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 6.24 points or 0.05 percent at 13,503.31.

On Friday, the index closed down 124.23 points or 0.91 percent, at 13,497.07. The index scaled an intraday high of 13,621.77 and a low of 13,490.10.

The Capped Health Care Index is up 3.70 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is rising 6.24 percent and Extendicare (EXE.TO) is adding 0.10 percent.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is surging 15.95 percent, after it announced its board has initiated a search to identify a candidate to succeed Michael Pearson as CEO. The company also announced William Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., will join its board, effective immediately.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is rising 0.78 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is increasing 0.71 percent and Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is adding 0.31 percent.

TELUS (T.TO) is climbing 0.85 percent, after it announced that it plans $2 billion in new telecom infrastructure across Quebec.

The Capped Information Technology Index is rising 0.70 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is gaining 0.67 percent and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is higher by 0.96 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is gaining 0.24 percent. Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is higher by 3.10 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is increasing 0.52 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is rising 0.29 percent.

Air Canada (AC.TO) is up 1.22 percent, after it announced that it will offer satellite connectivity on international flights.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is weakening by 1.49 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is falling 1.07 percent and HudBay Mineral (HBM.TO) is losing 0.94 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is down 2.69 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is surrendering 1.80 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is dipping 0.24 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is losing 0.58 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is lower by 0.19 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is falling 0.14 percent and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is decreasing 0.20 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is also declining 0.13 percent.

The Energy Index is declining 0.23 percent. Crude oil prices are back to nearly flat this morning, after recovering from an early dip.

Encana (ECA.TO) is weakening by 1.39 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is falling 0.85 percent. Enbridge (ENB.TO) is declining 1.61 percent and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is surrendering 0.20 percent. The Gold Index is down 0.30 percent. Gold prices are slipping Monday morning as traders lock in profits after gains from last week's dovish interest rate announcement by the Federal Reserve.

IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is declining 0.71 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is falling 0.50 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is decreasing 0.22 percent and B2Gold (BTO.TO) is losing 2.34 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is also surrendering 0.73 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 0.38 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is declining 0.28 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is falling 1.58 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is losing 0.90 percent.

Centamin (CEE.TO) reported earnings per share for the year ended 31 December 2015 was 4.44 cents, compared with 7.11 cents in 2014. The stock is now down 7.03 percent.

On the economic front, Eurozone's current account surplus decreased for a second straight month in January, data from the European Central Bank showed Monday. The seasonally-and-working-day adjusted current account surplus dropped to EUR 25.4 billion from EUR 28.6 billion in December. A year ago, the surplus was EUR 30.1 billion.

UK manufacturing output declined the most in six-and-a-half years, but producers expect volume growth next month, survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed Monday. The balance of manufacturing volume of the CBI's monthly Industrial Trends Survey declined to -15 in the three months to March. The score was the lowest level since September 2009, when it was -19.

The average asking price for a house in the United Kingdom increased for the third straight month in March, the latest survey from Rightmove revealed on Monday. House prices in England and Wales climbed 1.3 percent month-over-month in March. This follows a 2.9 percent hike in the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for April delivery are up 0.25 or 0.63 percent at $39.69 a barrel.

Natural gas for April is down 0.069 or 3.62 percent at $1.838 per million btu.

Gold futures for April are down $6.00 or 0.48 percent at $1,248.30 an ounce.

Silver for May is up $0.064 or 0.40 percent at $15.875 an ounce.