TORONTO: Canada’s main stock index was largely unchanged on Monday as gains in heavyweight banking stocks after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was nominated to lead the central bank for a second term offset losses in miners from weak gold prices.
The financials sector rose 0.6%, with shares of National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal inching higher in morning trade.
The gains mirrored those of Wall Street banks, which outperformed broader markets as investors anticipated faster US interest rate hikes in 2022, but gave global investors stability and some predictability as the Fed plans withdrawing stimulus.
At 10:45 a.m. ET (1506 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.02% at 21,558.73 as Wall Street indexes cruised to record highs.
The Canadian stocks benchmark hit a one-week low on Friday, led by energy shares after oil prices slumped following a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe.
Oil recovered slightly on Monday, lifting the energy index by around 1%.
However, the materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.6% as gold futures tumbled over 1.5% in the wake of Fed chair announcement.
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