TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market opened on a positive note and stayed firm right through the session on Monday, reacting positively to news that U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to postpone a planned increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.

With the March 1 deadline for a U.S.-China trade agreement fast approaching, it was feared that about $200 billion worth of Chinese goods imported to the U.S. would be taxed at 25%, an increase of 10% from the existing levy. However, with Trump deciding to delay the imposition of additional tariffs, markets across the globe edged higher on Monday.

Trump said the U.S. and China have made substantial progress on "important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues."

He also indicated a likely meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement.

Energy stocks edged higher despite crude oil's sharp plunge. Industrial and financial shares were among the other notable gainers. Consumer staples and information technology shares failed to hold early gains. Materials and consumer discretionary shares closed mixed, while healthcare shares were weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 44.02 points, or 0.27%, at 16,057.03, after rising to a high of 16,099.93. On Friday, the index ended up 12.15 points, or 0.08%, at 16,013.01.

Among bank stocks, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) gained 0.3 to 0.7%.

In the industrials space, Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and Air Canada (AC.TO) ended with modest gains, while SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC.TO) jumped 6.3%.

Among energy stocks, Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) ended nearly 2.5% up, Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) gained 2.37%, PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) advanced 1.7% and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) surged up 2.2%.

In the materials space, Nutrien (NTR.TO) gained 1.5%, CCL Industries (CCL.B.TO) advanced 1.25%, First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) ended nearly 5% up and Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) surged up 4.3%.

Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) declined 1.3% and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) declined more than 3%. Barrick announced that it has made a proposal to the Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM) Board of Directors to merge with Newmont in an all-share transaction that will help Barrick unlock more than US$7 billion net present value of real synergies.

Among the stocks from healthcare space, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) declined 1.2%, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended lower by about 1%,

Cronos Group Inc. (CRON.TO) declined as much as 7.3%, Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) ended 4.3% down and Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) eased by about 3.4%. Green Organic Dutchman Holdings (TGOD.TO) gained 3.75%.

Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) surged up nearly 5% after the company announced that its Aurora Sky and MedReleaf Bradford facilities are now fully licensed by Health Canada for the production and sale of cannabis and cannabis derivative products.

Asian markets ended on a strong note on Monday amid easing tensions about U.S.-China trade after U.S. decided to delay imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese exports. The Chinese market turned in a fine performance, with its benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining as much as 5.6%.

European markets too closed on a positive note, with investors reacting positively to U.S. President Trump's decision to delay tariffs on Chinese goods.

U.S. stocks ended on a positive note despite paring some of their gains.

In commodities, crude oil futures for April ended down $1.78, or 3.1%, at $55.78 a barrel, well off the day's high of $57.53.

Gold futures for April settled down $3.30, or 0.3%, at $1,329.50 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended down $0.084, at $15.830 an ounce, while Copper futures for March ended at $2.9450 per pound, down $0.0065 from previous close.