Things on Bay Street got off to a good start this week as higher oil prices powered the heavyweight energy sector higher.
Concerns over the worsening economic problems in Venezuela, and whether or not the U.S. will once again hit Iran with sanctions for violating the nuclear deal, are responsible for the higher oil prices. The TSX finished the day at 15,808, up 79 points. The bump comes as trade officials from Canada, Mexico, and the United States meet in Washington today to try to hammer out a NAFTA deal.
South of the border those higher oil prices helped push Wall Street higher, with the tech sector playing a big role as well, as the Dow Jones continued last week’s late week rally. It closed 94 points higher, to 24,357.
Nestle is forking over big bucks for coffee. The Swiss company is paying Starbucks $7.15 billion for the rights to sell the Seattle-based company’s product.
At press time oil is up ten cents to $69.82 U.S. per barrel, gold is down a dime to $1314.60 an ounce, and the loonie is down a third of a cent to 77.57 cents U.S.