Off the wire
• China, U.S. to kick off annual high-level talks on deepening ties  • Roundup: U.S. stocks end higher amid hopeful signs from Greece talks  • Israeli Druze attack military vehicle carrying Syrian refugees, killing one  • Interview: Confucius Institutes aim for sustainable development  • Clashes erupt during Ethiopian-Israeli protest in Tel Aviv  • Roundup: Italy praises EU operation launch, urges more efforts in migrant crisis  • Chicago soybeans, wheat up on short covering  • Roundup: Strengthening China-U.S. talks to provide more opportunities for Chinese firms  • Slovakia to provide financial humanitarian aid to flood-hit Georgia  • Chicago home prices hit seven-year high in May  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Canadian stock market rebounds over optimism about Greece deal

Xinhua, June 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto on Monday bounced up with a three-digit gain as an emergency summit held by eurozone leaders was expected to reach an agreement on Greece's bailout program.

Following a big slump on last Friday, Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rallied 137.36 points or 0.94 percent to 14,790.48 points, with broad gains across major sectors.

Finance ministers from the eurozone concluded an emergency summit in Brussels Monday on plans for Greece to reach a deal with international creditors. Greece will be unable to make a 1.5- billion-euro (1.7 billion U.S. dollars) debt payment to the International Monetary Fund due on June 30, if there is no further aid available.

Financials, the most heavily weighed sector, rose 0.78 percent when big banks and insurance companies were buoyed by the optimism about a hopeful Greece deal in near future.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) rose 0.76 percent to 77.40 Canadian dollars (about 62.79 U.S. dollars), while Bank of Nova Scotia rallied 1.23 percent to 65.15 Canadian dollars, and the insurance giant Manulife Financial Corp. advanced 0.51 percent to 23.80 Canadian dollars per share.

The info tech sector, up 2.17 percent, was the biggest gainer in the eight sectors in TSX as Constellation Software Inc. soared 3.88 percent to 517.11 Canadian dollars and CGI Group Inc. jumped 2.74 percent to 51.03 Canadian dollars.

The energy sector moved 1.01 percent higher amid rising crude oil prices. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. spiked 3.41 percent to 9.7 Canadian dollars and Canada's biggest oil and gas company Suncor Energy Inc. added 0.89 percent to 34 Canadian dollars.

Metals and mining, the only loser, inched down 0.01 percent as Teck Resources Ltd. shed 0.22 percent to 13.34 Canadian dollars.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Monday morning that investment in new housing construction rose 2.3 percent to 3.9 billion Canadian dollars in April, compared with the same month in 2014.

The federal agency said higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction was responsible for most of the national advance, rising 7.9 percent to 1.3 billion Canadian dollars.

According to the Housing Trends and Affordability Report issued Monday by RBC Economics Research, mortgage rate declines that took place earlier this year contributed to improved levels of affordability in many markets and housing categories where home price increases were subdued, but that deterioration was noted in markets with stronger price gains.

"Canadian markets, heavily associated with the oil and gas industry - Calgary and Edmonton in particular - were impacted earlier this year by the plunge in oil prices which tipped the market in favor of buyers due to softening home prices and ownership costs," said Craig Wright, senior vice-president and chief economist of RBC.

With regard to currency, the Canadian dollar edged down Monday to 0.8113 U.S. dollar from 0.8153 U.S. dollar last Friday. Endite