Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Canada's main stock index partially recovered from Monday's steep decline as a re-elected Liberal government gave investors hope of more stimulus spending to come.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 89.75 points to 20,244.29, a day after losing 335.82 points.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 50.63 points at 33,919.84. The S&P 500 index was down 3.54 points at 4,354.19 while the Nasdaq composite was up 32.50 points at 14,746.40.
Although Trudeau's Liberals were expected to retain power, their win suggests there's a good chance its plan to spend $78 billion over five years will take place even with a minority government, said Giles Marshall, portfolio manager at Fiduciary Trust Canada.
"The market may well have taken that positively that we're going to see both very loose monetary policy as far as the eye can see, combined with expansionary fiscal policy for the next several years for sure," he said in an interview.
The heavyweight financials sector took a bit of a hit, however, in a risk-on day because of the Liberals plan to pay for the spending by raising corporate taxes on banks and insurers. It has proposed raising the surtax on earnings over $1 billion by three percentage points to 18 per cent.
That would affect earnings of all Canadian banks and at least three insurers over the medium-term and affect their ability to raise dividends and buy back shares, Marshall said.
The financials sector was up just 0.31 per cent with several banks and insurers like Manulife Financial lower.
After global markets were down eight of the 10 previous sessions, a relief rally was to be expected, Marshall said.
"(But) really not a very convincing bounce after almost two weeks of softness."
Several issues that spooked markets to start the week lurk in the background, including fears of a contagion from massive debt owed by Chinese developers, worries that the U.S. debt ceiling battle accelerate in Congress and how quickly the Federal Reserve will taper stimulus spending.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to unveil the central bank's plans Wednesday, with observers not expecting the bank to reduce US$120 billion a month in bond purchases until later this year.
"I think the market is anxious about that even though I think there's a definitely strong consensus that we will see some tapering before year-end," Marshall said, adding that COVID-19 lurks in the background.
"So I think there's still quite a lot of factors or issues that the market needs to work through."
All 11 major sectors on the TSX were up after they all lost ground on Monday.
Health care climbed 2.2 per cent with Bausch Health Companies Inc. up 8.1 per cent.
Energy gained one per cent on a slight increase in crude oil prices as shares of Enerplus Corp. rose 3.5 per cent and Imperial Oil was up 3.4 per cent.
The November crude oil contract was up 35 cents at 70.49 cents per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down 18 cents at US$4.81 per mmBTU.
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.12 cents US compared with 77.95 cents US on Monday.
Materials increased slightly with forest products companies such as Interfor Corp. and Canfor Corp. seeing their shares increase 5.4 and 2.9 per cent, respectively.
The December gold contract was up US$14.40 at US$1,778.20 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 1.15 cents at nearly US$4.13 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2021.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.