TSX rises as investors assess US-Canada trade talks

By Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit

(Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Monday, on track to log its second consecutive monthly gain, while investors assessed the revival of trade talks between Washington and Ottawa.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.2% at 26733.42 points, set to log its fourth straight quarter in green.

President Donald Trump had called off the trade talks on Friday over Canada’s digital services tax targeting U.S. technology firms, calling it a "blatant attack."

Canada late on Sunday scrapped the tax, hours before it was set to take effect, in a bid to restart the negotiations.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump will resume trade negotiations to agree to a deal by July 21, the Canadian finance ministry said.

"The biggest challenge for the market is to understand how quickly things will whipsaw and maybe not react quite as strongly to each individual step because we still haven’t negotiated a trade agreement and there still could be some more challenges there," Verecan Capital Management CEO Colin White said.

With Trump’s July tariff deadline looming, investors will monitor signs of progress on the trade front.

Healthcare stocks led gains on the TSX, rising 2%. Bausch Health and Sienna Senior were up 4.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

Communication stocks gained 0.9%.

On the flip side, energy stocks led sectoral losses, dropping 0.6% as oil prices steadied with Middle East risks easing and markets weighing on a possible OPEC+ output increase in August.

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Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE) lost 1.8%, International Petroleum (TSX:IPCO) was down 1.7%.

In individual stocks, MDA Space rose 3.2% after the space firm announced a contract extension with the Canadian government providing continuous space-based maritime awareness and security.

Methanol producer Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) fell 2.2% to the bottom of the benchmark index.

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