TSX Ends Marginally Higher On Global Cues -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks snapped a two-day loss to end marginally higher on Monday, tracking rising global equity markets led by mining and financial stocks, after the U.S. and EU imposed some soft sanctions on Russia after Crimea voted to secede from the Ukraine and join Russia, with an overwhelming 97 percent of the people voting for it.

President Barack Obama on Monday imposed sanctions on certain Russian government officials as well as Crimea-based separatist leaders, a day after the people of Ukraine's Crimea region voted to secede and rejoin Russia.

EU Foreign Ministers' in Brussels on Monday identified and targeted 21 persons, imposing a travel ban and a freeze of their assets within the EU "for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as persons and entities associated with them."

Crimea overwhelmingly voted to leave Ukraine and become part of Russia through a referendum on Sunday, although President Obama has said the vote will never be recognized by the U.S. and the international community. He has argued the referendum violates the Ukrainian constitution and occurred under duress of Russian military intervention.

Investors also weighed some encouraging economic data out of the U.S. with a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report showing business conditions for New York manufacturers continuing to improve in March, although the index of activity in the sector rose less than expected. Meanwhile, U.S. industrial production rose more than expected in February, with manufacturing output rebounding.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Monday at 14,233.18, up 5.52 points or 0.04 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,315.22 and a low of 14,219.97.

Crude oil ended lower after the U.S. and EU imposed some soft sanctions on Russia after Crimea's voted to join Russia with an overwhelming 97 percent of the people voting for it. Analysts currently do not expect crude oil supplies from the region to be interrupted.

The Energy Index edged up 0.10 percent, although U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropping $0.81 or 0.8 percent to close at $98.08 a barrel Monday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) edged down 0.30 percent, while Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) gained 0.37 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ.TO) added 0.35 percent, while Bonterra Energy Corp. (BNE.TO) added 0.32 percent ahead of results. Whitecap Resources Inc. (WCP.TO) jumped 7.03 percent, while Ballard Power Systems (BLD.TO) plunged 8.19 percent.

Energy stocks ended mostly higher with a flurry of deal-making in the sector attracting investors.

Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) added 0.36 percent on reports of talks to sell its Jonah natural gas fields in Wyoming to private equity firms Carlyle Group L.P. (CG) and NGP Energy Capital Management LLC for about $2 billion.

Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO.TO) added 0.20 percent after announcing it will sell its interest in assets located in Boundary Lake, Cynthia/West Pembina, and Rocky Mountain House in Western Canada to Whitecap Resources Inc. for about C$855 million.

Shares of Africa-focused TransGlobe (TGL.TO) gained 1.78 percent after it agreed to a $1.8 billion merger with Caracal Energy.

Ensign Energy Services Inc. (ESI.TO) slipped 2.97 percent after reporting a net income that dropped 41 percent to $128.9 million or $0.84 per share for the year, from $217.5 million or $1.42 per share a year ago.

The Global Gold Index plunged 3.31 percent, with gold futures for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropping $6.10 or 0.4 percent to close at $1,372.90 an ounce Monday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) plunged 5.22 percent, while Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) dropped 2.46 percent. Detour Gold Corp. (DGC.TO) dived 4.53 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) surrendered 2.98 percent.

The Capped Materials Index dived 1.88 percent, even as Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) inched up 0.34 percent.

Shares of Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) slipped 0.02 percent on reports CHS, Inc. (CHSCP) agreed to acquire certain Canadian retail assets from Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Agrium, Inc.

The heavyweight Financial Index gained 0.34 percent with the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) up 0.45 percent, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) up 0.16 percent, and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) up 0.39 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index added 1.24 percent, with Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) gaining 1.62 percent, Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) gained 0.62 percent, and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) added 2.08 percent.

The Information Technology Index moved up 0.76 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) dropping 1.84 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index advanced 0.92 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) surging 4.85 percent after bagging a contract with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) for the delivery of electric trains.

In economic news, Canadian investors increased their foreign securities holdings in January by $2.3 billion, for a fourth straight month in a row. Meanwhile, foreign investors acquired $1.1 billion of Canadian securities, driven mostly by equities.

National home sales in Canada edged up 0.3 percent from January to February, with activity on a non-seasonally adjusted basis at 1.9 percent, which is above February 2013. Newly listed homes moved up 0.6 percent from January to February.

In economic news from the U.S., a report from the National Association of Home Builders on Monday showed homebuilder confidence to have rebounded modestly in March, after reporting a sharp drop in homebuilder confidence in the previous month. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index inched up one point to 47 in March after tumbling ten points to 46 in February. Economists expected the index to show a stronger rebound to a reading of 50.

A Federal Reserve report on Monday showed U.S. industrial production to have increased by 0.6 percent in February following a revised 0.2 percent decrease in January. Economists expected production to rise by about 0.2 percent compared to the 0.3 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Fed said its general business conditions index edged up to 5.6 in March from 4.5 in February, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists expected the index at a reading of 6.5. The modest increase was partly due to a turnaround by new orders, with the new orders index climbing to a positive 3.1 in March from a negative 0.2 in February.

From Europe, residential property prices in the United Kingdom rose to an all-time high in March as the ongoing economic recovery and a favorable mortgage market boosted demand, while rising prices lured more sellers back into the property market. The average asking price of a U.K. house advanced 1.6 percent in March from the prior month, marking the third month of increase in a row, a report from property tracking firm Rightmove showed Monday. Nonetheless, the growth was lower than February's 3.3 percent.

Eurozone inflation slowed in February to 0.7 percent, the level last seen in October, final data from Eurostat showed. Meanwhile, core inflation came in line with preliminary estimate. Core inflation rose to 1 percent from 0.8 percent a month ago.

The week will see investors focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve new Chairman Janet Yellen's first meeting as the head of the central bank. The Fed's policy-making committee, which meets Tuesday and Wednesday, is widely expected to cut the Fed's monthly purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities by $10 billion, to $55 billion.