Gold and oil push TSX higher

The Toronto stock market closed little changed Monday, well off the highs of the session amid worry centred on whether Greece will exit the eurozone and on subpar economic data from China. The S&P/TSX composite index came down from an 84-point gain to close up 16.78 points at 15,100.7. Strength came from energy and gold stocks, which took off on rising prices for oil and bullion.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.37 of a cent (U.S.) to 80.22 cents.

New York indexes were lower as the Dow Jones industrials closed down 95.08 points at 17,729.21, the Nasdaq was18.39 points lower at 4,726.01and the S&P 500 index was off 8.73 points at 2,046.74.

Greece’s new leftist government appeared set on a collision course with the country’s creditors. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is demanding a “bridge agreement” that would give Greece and its creditors time to negotiate a new debt deal much more favourable to the country by June. The current bailout deal between Greece and its creditors runs until the end of February, but Tsipras said the government is “not entitled to ask for an extension,” saying the bailout deals that have kept the country afloat “have been abolished by popular mandate.”

“Conditions compared to the last Greek crisis are different and they are better than what they were,” said Gareth Watson, vice-president, in- vestment management and research at Richardson GMP Ltd.

“From that perspective, I would understand why some people would not be paying as much attention to it. But you can’t ignore it.”

The TSX energy sector was up another 1.76 per cent, building on last week’s 12-per-cent run-up as March crude gained $1.17 Monday to $52.86 a barrel. Oil prices have essentially stopped going straight down after plunging more than 50 per cent since the highs of last summer. Last week, oil prices rose 7 per cent despite data showing U.S. inventories at 80-year highs.

“With such a massive decline in such a short period of time, I can definitely see the argument in saying, we oversold,” said Watson. “Which means, in all likelihood, when you bounce back up you tend to overshoot to the upside. And I don’t know where this shakes out.”

April bullion gained $6.90 to $1,241.50 an ounce and the gold sector was ahead 1.3 per cent.

The base metals sector was ahead 0.8 per cent as March copper was off a penny at $2.59 a pound. Prices dipped amid data showing Chinese imports tumbled19.7 per cent in January from a year earlier on top of a decline of 2.4 per cent in December. Exports dropped 3.2 per cent year on year, compared with a 9.7-per-cent rise in December.

Decliners were led by telcos, down 1 per cent. Other sectors pulling the TSX down included the consumer staples and industrials groups.