TSX Ends Modestly Higher, Extends Gains To 4th Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Monday, extending gains to a third successive session, on higher crude oil prices and hopes about a possible U.S.-China trade deal.

After a buoyant start and a subsequent fall that resulted in a few minutes in the negative territory, Canadian shares rallied to close higher, tracking gains in European markets and on Wall Street.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he had a "long and very good call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a comprehensive trade deal between the United States and China is moving along very well, raising hopes for a breakthrough in the trade dispute.

Chinese state media cited President Xi Jinping as saying he believed both sides wanted "stable progress."

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 100.86 points, or 0.71%, at 14,322.86, after scaling a high of 14,349.17 and a low of 14,218.54 intraday. On Friday, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 56.79 points, or 0.4%, at 14,222.00 after a highly volatile session.

The index shed about 12% in the year.

Shares from energy, information technology, materials and utilities sections moved higher. Financial, consumer staples, consumer discretionary and industrials shares too were mostly higher. Shares from healthcare section declined.

The Capped Energy Index gained more than 1%. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) gained 2.35%, Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) added 2.75%, Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) advanced by 1.75%, PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) ended 1.3% up and Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO) ended 3.3% up.

BayTex Energy (BTE.TO) gained 6.2%, Altagas (ALA.TO) ended 4.8%, Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) advanced by nearly 2% and NexGen Energy (NXE.TO) added 1.7%.

The Capped Materials Index advanced by 1.74%. Nutrien (NTR.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) gained 1 to 2.5%.

Kirkland Lake Global gained 3.3% and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) jumped more than 4.5%. B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO), Oceana Gold Corporation (OGC.TO) and Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) also ended sharply higher.

The Capped Information Technology Index gained 1.66%. CGI Group (GIB.A.TO) gained 1.8%, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) ended 3.7% up, Constellation Software (CSU.TO) advanced by 1.1%, Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) ended 1.6% up and Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) added nearly 2%.

Among bank stocks, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) ended modestly higher and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) ended slightly up, while Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) ended lower by more than 1%.

Among the stocks in the healthcare space, Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) declined by 7.8% and Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) declined 4.75%.

Asian stocks finished on a mixed note Monday as weak manufacturing data from China offset signs of progress in trade talks between the United States and China.

European stocks ended higher as soothing comments from both the U.S. and Chinese presidents praising progress in trade talks helped spur hopes for a resolution to the U.S.-China trade conflict. In addition, the Italian parliament has approved the government's 2019 budget after reaching a truce with Brussels.

U.S. stocks ended notably higher after fluctuating over the course of the session on positive reaction to comments from President Donald Trump who expressed optimism about a U.S. - China trade deal.

In commodities, crude oil futures for February ended up $0.08, or 0.2%, at $45.41 a barrel.

Gold futures for February ended down $1.70, or 0.1%, at $1,281.30 an ounce, after recording a fresh six-month high at $1,286.45.

Silver futures for March settled at $15.540 an ounce, up $0.104 from previous close, while Copper futures for March ended at $2.631 per pound, down $0.016 per pound.