DEVELOPING Person on fire outside Trump's hush money trial rushed away on a stretcher
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Strength in the energy sector combined with some positive economic news to kick off the trading week helped Canada's main stock index achieve triple-digit gains Monday.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 179.89 points at 21,537.45.
The gain came as U.S. stock markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
"It's been a good day for the TSX," said Pierre Cleroux, vice-president of research and chief economist for the Business Development Bank of Canada. "The TSX was positive very early today, and it kept the story all day."
Leading the charge was the energy sector, with the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index up 1.72 per cent to 193.58. Some of the biggest winners were Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd., which was up 3.5 per cent; Baytex Energy Corp., which was up 3.1 per cent; and Arc Resources Ltd., up 3.09 per cent.
The March crude oil contract was up $1.68 cents at US$83.30 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down approximately one cent at US$4.26 per mmBTU.
Cleroux said global demand for oil continues to outpace supply, which is the reason the benchmark West Texas Intermediate price has been so strong in recent months.
"The fundamental reason is the fact that we have underinvested in oil for the past several years, probably since 2014," he said. "There's not a lot of investment to increase the supply, and on top of that there have been political issues around the world, like OPEC maintaining a policy of not increasing supply. And Omicron doesn't seem to be slowing down the demand for oil around the world."
The strong performance of Canadian energy stocks indicates that investors believe elevated oil prices are here to stay, at least for a while, Cleroux added.
In addition to energy, Canadian banks also saw gains during Monday's trading, with the S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index up 1.15 per cent.
Cleroux said markets were likely reacting to two positive economic releases Monday. The Bank of Canada's quarterly survey of businesses -- which was conducted before the arrival of the Omicron variant -- showed business owners are concerned about rising inflation and supply chain challenges, but are generally feeling quite positive in terms of their recovery from the COVID-19-related recession.
That, in addition to Statistics Canada's November 2021 manufacturing numbers, help to paint an optimistic economic portrait, said Cleroux.
"Manufacturing sales increased about 2.6 per cent in November, so that's another positive piece of news that probably helped the markets today," he said.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday annual home sales reached a new high in 2021, eclipsing the previous record set in 2020 by about 20 per cent.
In general, the Canadian economy is performing quite well, despite the current Omicron wave, Cleroux said.
"Personally as an economist I believe Omicron won't have a big impact on growth this year, and I think a lot of economists share that," he said. "So that's probably reflected in why the market's increasing as well."
The Canadian dollar traded for 79.87 cents US compared with 79.71 cents US on Friday.
The February gold contract was down US$4.90 at US$1,816.50 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 13 cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2022.
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.