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Canadian stocks inch higher ahead of federal budget

Xinhua, March 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto edged higher Monday as traders were waiting to hear from Tuesday's budget for promised stimulus spending to boost economic growth.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 64.02 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 13,561.09 points. Seven of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors went higher.

TSX energy and mining groups reacted tepidly, with energy going up 0.10 percent but mining sector going down 0.76 percent, respectively, despite oil prices spiking up as crude stockpiles drop.

Texas light sweet crude for April delivery moved up 47 cents to settle at 39.91 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude for May delivery increased 34 cents to close at 41.54 dollars a barrel.

Heavyweight energy gainers included Bankers Petroleum Ltd., which surged 55.86 percent to 1.73 Canadian dollars (about 1.32 U.S. dollars) a share after the Calgary-based company, one of Albania's largest foreign investors, said Sunday it has agreed to be acquired by affiliates of China's Geo-Jade Petroleum Corp. for 575 million Canadian dollars.

Among the most actively traded mining companies, Potash Ridge Corporation jumped 66.67 percent to 0.10 Canadian dollar per share after the Toronto-based company provided an update on its corporate activities including ongoing capital raising initiatives.

Health care issues led the advancers with a 4.27 percent gain. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's shares rose 8.50 percent to 37.90 Canadian dollars after it disclosed that chief executive J. Michael Pearson would be leaving and that activist investor William Ackman, head of New York-based Pershing Square Capital and a significant Valeant shareholder, would become a director.

Other influential movers on the index included Bombardier Inc., which rose 6.20 percent to 1.37 Canadian dollars while awaiting a federal government decision on whether to invest in the struggling plane maker.

The new Liberal government's first federal budget to be presented Tuesday by Finance Minister Bill Morneau is greatly anticipated as for how it will direct its infrastructure spending and how much Canada's deficit will rise as a result.

The Canadian dollar traded lower at 0.7642 U.S. dollar Monday, compared with Friday's closing rate of 0.7670 U.S. dollar. Endit