Smooth and Steady Morning for Most Major Indexes

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) made minimal progress on Monday (April 9) when it gained 20.29 points to close at 15,227.70. It continued into the green on Tuesday (April 10) morning when it gained 68.67 points, rising to 15,296.37.

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) lost its footing on Monday as it closed at 765.46, down 3.69 points. It continued to gently slide on Tuesday morning as it fell 1.71 points, landing at 763.75.

Gains in the financial sector and consumer staples, up 0.4 and 1.6 percent respectively, balanced out major losses from Kinder Morgan Canada (TSX:KML), which dropped 12.6 percent after the company halted work on the Trans Mountain pipeline. Meanwhile, the cannabis market took a hit when Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) fell 8.6 percent and Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED) dropped 7 percent.

Despite stronger gains earlier in the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) closed Monday with only a 46.34-point boost at 23,979.10. Tuesday morning saw strong boosts once again as the index picked up 320.60 points to reach 24,299.70.

The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) found small gains on Monday as it closed at 2,613.16 with a 8.69-point boost. The index kept up the green streak on Tuesday morning as it picked up 28.56 points to reach 2,641.72.

Health and tech stocks led the way yesterday in the S&P 500, while the Dow Jones got its biggest boost from Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) which gained 5.2 percent. The markets saw a sudden drop-off near the end of the day as a report surfaced that the FBI had raided the office of Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.

Note: All numbers shown above were accurate as of 10:00 a.m. EST.

Daily metals

Gold bounced back on Monday to close at US$1,340.10 per ounce. Tuesday morning saw small gains as gold inched up to US$1,342.40. In silver, the precious metal got a boost on Monday when it closed at US$16.52 per ounce. Tuesday morning continued silver’s rise when it reached US$16.56.

Copper continued to rise on Monday when it closed at US$3.07 per pound. The commodity skyrocketed on Tuesday morning as it hit US$3.12.

Major miner news

• Kinross Gold (TSX:K): Following the news of US sanctions being implemented against Russia, Kinross made a statement confirming its Russian operations are unaffected by the sanctions. The company has operated in Russia for 20 years and currently has two active mines there, Kupol and Dvoinoye.

• Great Panther Silver (TSX:GPR, NYSE:GPL): The company announced its Q1 production results for 2018, with results coming from its two Mexican silver mining operations. Compared to Q1 2017, consolidated metal production increased 42% to 1,031,937 silver equivalent ounces, silver production increased 35% to 491,063 silver ounces, and gold production increased 13% to 5,831 gold ounces.

• Glencore (LSE:GLEN): In light of new sanctions against Russia, Glencore acknowledged its working relationships with Rusal and EN+ Group, as they were two of the 12 companies targeted by the sanctions. The statement read that Glencore has contracts with Rusal for aluminium and alumina purchasing, but that the company is “still evaluating the position under its contracts with Rusal”. It also mentioned that Glencore previously signed a non-binding term sheet with EN+ regarding swapping its shares in Rusal for Global Depositary Receipts in EN+, but that it would not be going forward with such a transaction at this time.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.