The Toronto market is ending higher as commodity prices rise

Authors: Khushi Singh and Fergal Smith

(Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday as rising commodity prices boosted commodity shares, while the market moved to a faster standard for settling trades and investors looked ahead to bank earnings reports this week.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index finished up 52.51 points, or 0.2%, at 22,373.38, nearing last Tuesday’s record high of 22,468.16.

Trading volume was lower than usual as US markets were closed for the Memorial Day holiday.

“The U.S. is in lockdown, commodities are trading well and investors are waiting for bank earnings for the rest of the week, so the Canadian market today is a good reason for optimism,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.

The materials group, which includes companies mining metals and fertilizers, gained 1.2% as gold prices rose.

“We expect gold prices to remain volatile and price declines to be shallow, with gold prices on target to test new record highs later this year,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Energy also gained 0.3% as oil rose 1.1% to $78.55 a barrel.

Canada, Mexico and Argentina began settling securities transactions in one day rather than two, in an effort to reduce counterparty risk and improve market liquidity. On Tuesday, US markets will switch to the new standard, commonly known as T+1.

Preliminary estimates showed Canadian wholesale trade increased 2.8% in April compared to March, mainly driven by higher sales in the motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector.

Bank of Nova Scotia is scheduled to release quarterly results on Tuesday, while some of Canada’s other large banks will release them later in the week.

Toronto-Dominion Bank reported better-than-expected earnings on Thursday even as its U.S. segment struggled amid investigations related to its anti-money laundering program.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Khushi Singh; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Jonathan Oatis)