Stock markets in Canada nudged up on Monday, in comparison to broad losses across global stock markets.
Canada’s main stock index, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, closed up 0.2% at 16,515 points, despite significant drops the healthcare sector, down 3.7%, after drops from cannabis stocks.
Meanwhile, Aphria Inc (TSE:APHA) was a top laggard, dropping 14.2% at C$11.51 after its 3Q financials missed expectations.
Cronos Group Inc (TSE:CRON) also detracted, closing down 6.7% at C$21.16 in Toronto.
On the other hand, the Materials sector was up 0.76%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was under pressure on Monday, down 1.1% to close at 619 points.
The Canadian Securities Exchange was down 2.2% at 836 points.
1:30 pm: TSX back in positive territory by mid-session
Canada's largest market was back in positive territory at mid-session, having fallen earlier, as resource stocks were back in favor.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index is up around 40 points at the time of writing, at 16,520.
But the smaller TSX Venture Exchange was seeing red - off six points at 619.
The Canadian Securities Exchange was also lower, sitting down around 24 points at 830.
Against the US dollar, the Canadian currency was down a tad, 0.29% at C$0.7480.
Lundin Mining Corp (TSE:LUN) was still a big riser, up 9% to $7.44 after news emerged it was buying the gold-copper mine of Yamana Gold Inc (TSE:YRI) in Brazil. The Chapada mine in the state of Goiás, is a copper-gold operation that began production in 2007.
Meanwhile, Aphria Inc (TSE:APHA) has now dropped around 13% $11.65 after its quarterly revenue missed expectations.
10.30am: Canadian markets off to a muted start as health care and mining shares lead downward pressure
After a week of solid gains, Canadian markets were off to a muted start to the week on Monday morning, opening lower across the board as health care and mining stocks led downward pressure on the exchanges.
The TSX lost 17 points from Friday’s close to trade at 16,463 by 10am Monday, while the TSX Venture Exchange opened 0.7% lower to sit at 621 points.
The Canadian Securities Exchange was also lower on Monday morning, sitting just over 1% lower at 843 points.
On the big board, health care shares were down around 3% while mining shares lost nearly 0.7%. Telecom and financials performed relatively well, both up 0.1%.
Early movers on the TSX including Lundin Mining Corporation (TSE:LUN), up over 6% on the news that it had acquired Yamana’s Brazilian copper-gold mine in a US$1 billion deal.
China Gold International Resources Corp Ltd (TSE:CGG) was also up around 5% as the day’s trading began.
Aphria Inc (TSE:APHA) led early losses by a wide margin, down over 14% after the cannabis company reported it had swung to a loss in spite of huge revenue growth in its 3Q financials.
Elsewhere, oil prices fell around 0.3% to sit at US$63.68 while gold sank 0.5% to US$1,285.20.
The Canadian dollar gained around 0.1% to hit US$0.7510.