IT, health care help Canadian stock market start week ahead

After losing in four of the last five weeks, Canada's main stock market started the week with a modest gain with rallies from the Information Technology and Health Care sectors.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 45.54 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 14,496.23 points. All 10 of the index's sub-sectors were positive during the trading day.

Oil prices started the trading day with a 2-percent gain after Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member Venezuela suggested a deal on production between non-OPEC members was near. Momentum faded by the end of the day and prices ended with a slight loss.

The TSX Health Care group led the way on Monday with a 0.80-percent gain. Chartwell Retirement Residence stocks rose 2.93 percent to 15.10 Canadian dollars (about 11.44 U.S. dollars) after construction of 128 retirement suites had started in Oakville, Ontario.

Despite the positive day, the sector has lost a staggering 43.72 percent over the last year. The biggest contributor is Laval-based multinational pharmaceutical company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, whose stocks plunged after the announcement of investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February. Shares have dropped 88.12 percent in the last 12 months.

Information Technology netted a 0.67-percent gain during the trading day. Waterloo-based BlackBerry Ltd. saw shares advance 1.47 percent to 9.68 Canadian dollars (about 7.33 U.S. dollars).

Gold miners were heavily traded during the day, with Toronto-based IAMGold Corporation gaining 2.06 percent to close at 5.44 Canadian dollars (about 4.12 U.S. dollars) a share. Meanwhile, Vancouver-based B2Gold Corp added 2.23 percent to end at 3.67 Canadian dollars (about 2.78 U.S. dollars) per share.

The Canadian dollar made a small gain on the day to finish at 0.7574 U.S. dollars, compared to Friday's closing rate of 0.7567 U.S. dollars. Endi