Canadian shares look headed for a mixed start Monday morning, tracking commodity prices and a somewhat sluggish trend in European markets.
Updates on vaccination, new cases of coronavirus infections and the trend in global treasury markets are likely to set the trend for price movements. Activity may remain stock specific for most part of the day's session.
The Canadian stock market ended slightly higher on Friday, lifted by gains in energy, healthcare and consumer durables sections. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 17.53 points or 0.09% at 18,854.00, after scaling a low of 18,721.74 and a high of 18,883.68 intraday.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD.A.TO) announced it has signed a deal to sell 49 stores in Oklahoma to Casey's General Stores Inc. for $39 million. The dea is expected to close by July 31. The convenience store company also said it has hired a real estate advisory firm to help with the sale of 306 other sites across North America following a strategic review.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday amid persisting concerns about recent surge in global bond yields and the prospects of a global economic recovery. The Chinese market rallied after the country's central bank kept its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans unchanged for an 11th straight month at its March fixing, as widely expected.
European stocks are off early lows amid cautious moves by investors. Markets drifted lower in morning trades with the turmoil in the Turkish lira and concerns over rising Covid-19 cases in the region keeping investors worried.
The Turkish lira slumped toward a record low versus the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ousted central bank chief Naci Agbal, who had hiked the benchmark policy rate by 200 points to 19% to tame its high inflation rate.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.13 or 0.21% at $61.55 a barrel.
Gold futures are down $8.10 or 0.49% at $1,733.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.631 or 2.4% at $25.690 an ounce.
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