World share markets rose on Monday, led by a rebound on Wall Street, even as rising COVID-19 cases threaten to stall the recovery of the world’s largest economy.
Canada’s main stock index gained on Monday as energy stocks were lifted by higher oil prices.
The death toll from COVID-19 surpassed half a million people on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally, a grim milestone for the global pandemic that seems to be resurgent in some countries even as other regions are still grappling with the first wave.
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The energy sector climbed 2.9%, helped by gains in oil prices.
At 12:05 p.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 213.08 points, or 1.4%, at 15,402.06.
Domestic data showed that producer prices in Canada rose by 1.2% in May from April on higher prices for meat, fish, and dairy products, as well as energy and petroleum products.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.6% as gold prices steadied on Monday, holding close to a near eight-year peak scaled last week.
Financial stocks increased 1.2%, while the industrial and utility sectors rose 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively.
Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Monday following a sharp selloff last week, as investors clung to hopes of a stimulus-backed economic rebound even as coronavirus cases surged, while a jump in Boeing shares boosted the blue-chip Dow.
The planemaker rose 6.4% after the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed on Sunday it had approved key certification test flights for the grounded 737 MAX that could begin as soon as Monday.
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A spike in virus infections in Southern and Western states last week spooked U.S. markets, but the threat of a deeper-than-feared recession has led investors to expect that the Federal Reserve or Congress will step in with more stimulus. “The market believes that the Fed has its back,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
“If things get really bad, the Fed will step in with additional monetary easing and basically reach into their bag of tricks to do whatever they need to support the market.”
All 11 major S&P 500 sub-indexes were in the black, with industrial and material stocks leading gains.
The benchmark S&P 500 has rebounded since a coronavirus-driven crash in March, up about 17% since April and set for its best quarter since 1998, as the economy showed signs of a pickup.
Data on Monday showed contracts to buy previously owned homes rebounded by the most on record in May, suggesting the housing market was starting to turn around. Later this week, investors will focus on employment, consumer confidence and manufacturing data for June.
Still, the BlackRock Investment Institute downgraded U.S. equities to “neutral”, citing risks of fading fiscal stimulus, an extended epidemic as well as renewed China-U.S. tensions.
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Stovall said some of the choppy trading on Monday was likely down to mutual fund rebalancing their portfolios at the end of the month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 434.25 points, or 1.74%, to 25,449.8, the S&P 500 gained 31.35 points, or 1.04%, to 3,040.4 and the Nasdaq Composite added 65.72 points, or 0.67%, to 9,822.94.
Coty Inc jumped 8.7% after it said it would buy a 20% stake in reality TV star Kim Kardashian West’s makeup brand KKW for $200 million.
Facebook Inc extended declines from Friday as a report said PepsiCo Inc was set to join a growing number of companies pulling ad dollars from the social media platform.
Oil prices edged higher on Monday, after bullish data from Asia and Europe, but sharp spikes in new coronavirus infections around the world tempered gains.
Brent crude rose 30 cents, or 0.7%, to $41.32 a barrel. U.S. crude rose 44 cents, or 1.1%, to $38.93 a barrel.
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The recovery of economic sentiment in the euro zone intensified in June with improvements across all sectors, European Commission data showed on Monday. Overall sentiment rose to 75.7 points in June from 67.5 in May, though still short of expectations.
In China, profits at industrial firms rose for the first time in six months in May, suggesting the country’s economic recovery is gaining traction.
But fears of a second wave of the pandemic are keeping prices from going higher. The death toll from COVID-19 surpassed half a million people on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally.
Reuters.
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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
