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Nov. 16, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
The bulls remained firmly in control on Bay Street Monday, as Toronto's main index rose sharply for second day on hopes the global economic recovery has taken hold.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Monday up 104.58 points to 11,512.26.
Among metals and mining stocks, Equinox Minerals jumped 8.4% to $3.86.
Big gainers included Mega Brands, which soared 9.4% to $1.52, but came well off its early highs.
Goldcorp announced Monday it will raise its profile in Mexico by acquiring Canplats Resources Corp.in an all-stock deal valued at $238-million. Goldcorp shares rose 1.1% to $46.75.
OPTI Canada Inc. said Monday it plans to make a $425-million U.S. private placement offering of senior secured notes to fund a review of its strategic alternatives process. OPTI shares gained 3.4% to $2.11.
Uranium One Inc. announced it has received approval from Kazakh Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources or MEMR to buy 50% joint venture interest in the Karatau Uranium Mine. Shares were up 5.6% to $3.56.
News company Thomson Reuters Corp. said its Tax & Accounting business has agreed to buy Sabrix, Inc., a provider of transaction tax management software applications and related services. Thomson Reuters stock was up 1.1% to $33.55.
Economically speaking, manufacturing sales rose 1.4% in September to $41.7 billion, largely reflecting increases in the motor vehicle industry, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada.
Manufacturing sales have increased in three of the past four months, after dropping to a recent low of $38.5 billion in May. Despite the recent gains, sales remained 18.6% below September 2008 levels.
The Canadian dollar tacked on 0.32 cents to 95.51 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups stayed positive all day, led by metals and mining, ahead 4.1%, global base metals, up 3.6% and gold, improving 2.3%.
Only a 0.7% slip-up by information technology kept things from being unanimous.
The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 18.04 points to 1,377.94, while the Nasdaq Canada index actually tailed off 5.01 points to 671.85.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rallied Monday, with the major indexes hitting new highs for the year, as investors focused on the weak U.S. dollar and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said interest rates will remain low as the economy slowly recovers.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved 136.49 points ahead, or 1.3%, to 10,406.96, the highest level for the blue chip indicator since October 2008. The S&P 500 index was up 15.82 points to 1,109.30 -- a 2009 high for that index -- while the Nasdaq composite index went higher by 29.97 points to 2,197.85.
Energy and commodity shares led gainers as the weak U.S. dollar sent gold and oil prices higher.
Gold surged to an all-time high and oil rose in price, too.
Wall Street has rallied over the past two weeks as investors have gained confidence in the pace of the economic recovery. The market has also been supported by signs that policy makers around the world will keep economic stimulus efforts in place for a prolonged period of time.
Monday's rally reflects the "continuing resiliency of the market," said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. He said stocks could continue higher as the market overcomes key technical levels and more investors are drawn in from the sidelines.
With the Dow holding firmly above the psychologically important 10,000 level, investors are now turning their attention to another key high-water mark. Analysts say a sustained push above 1,100 points on the S&P 500 could pave the way for further gains in the weeks ahead.
Speaking in New York, Bernanke said financial conditions are significantly better than they were a year ago as markets around the world have stabilized.
But he warned that constrained bank lending and the weak job market "likely will prevent the expansion from being as robust as we would hope."
Given the challenges facing the economy, interest rates will probably remain "exceptionally low" for "an extended period," he said.
Bernanke also noted that the Federal Reserve, which is not responsible for managing currency fluctuations, is watching the decline of the U.S. dollar. "We are attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar and will continue to formulate policy to guard against risks to our dual mandate to foster both maximum employment and price stability."
Home improvement retailer Lowes reported a 30% drop in quarterly profit, but offered an optimistic outlook for fourth-quarter earnings.
General Motors, releasing its first financial results since emerging from bankruptcy in July, said it lost $1.2 billion U.S. in the third quarter. It also said it would begin repaying government loans in December. The U.S. government would receive $1 billion, with nearly $200 million going to the governments of Canada and Ontario.
Retail sales jumped 1.4% in October from the prior month, according to the Census Bureau, exceeding the increase of 0.9% expected by a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
Excluding automobiles, sales rose 0.2%, falling short of the 0.4% gain forecast by Briefing.com consensus.
That's compared to an overall decline of 1.5%, or an increase of 0.5% without auto sales, the prior month.
Treasury prices jumped sharply, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.34% from Friday's 3.42%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil leaped $2.55 to $78.85 U.S.
Gold prices improved $23 to $1,139 U.S. an ounce.