12:18 PM EDT, 09/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 258 points at midday, to 23,034, after earlier touching an intra-day high of 23,045.

Health care and Info tech are the biggest gainers, up 2.5% and 1.43%, respectively.

Oil prices rose early on Monday, climbing off an 18-month low on dip buying and the formation of a possible tropical storm, for now dubbed "Six", in the Gulf of Mexico that is expected to strengthen to hurricane status as it tracks towards oil-producing platforms offshore Texas and Louisiana.

Gold moved higher early on Monday, rebounding from a prior-session loss despite a strengthening dollar and higher treasury yields.

But natural gas prices fell even as a new storm rises in the Gulf of Mexico that could affect supply from the region.

BMO Economics in its morning note, said U.S. equity futures were higher this morning after stocks were hit last week (the S&P 500 fell more than 4%). It said September is traditionally the worst month of the year for equities. The prior four Septembers have been exceptionally weak, with declines of 4.9% (2023), 9.3% (2022), 4.8% (2021), and 3.9% (2020) for the S&P 500.

It is likely to be a "pretty subdued" week in Canada, with Bank of Canada Governor Macklem's speech and press conference the only events tomorrow. BMO noted the topic of his speech is "Global trade from a Canadian perspective", which could give us some insight into how the Bank thinks potential protectionist moves out of the U.S. post-election could impact Canada. The shifting global geopolitical backdrop also looms large -- with BMO noting the recent tariffs on EVs from China and China's action on canola. On last week's rate cut, BMO is not expecting the Governor to tread any new ground as the next policy announcement is six weeks away. However, Governor Macklem will have the opportunity to address the August jobs report and upward march in the jobless rate during the press conference. "We'll be watching for any signs of increased dovishness," the bank added.

Global equity markets were hammered last week, with losses across the board, adds BMO. The Nikkei and Nasdaq (both -5.8%) the way down, while the TSX "outperformed" falling 2.4%. TSX sectors were mixed, with big declines in tech (-6.2%), materials (-6.2%) and energy (-4.3%) weighing heavily. Telcos (-3.1%), health care (+1.7%) and consumer staples (+0.3%) helped limit the overall damage. Year-to-date, the TSX is up 8.7%, trailing the S&P's 13.4% gain.

Meanwhile, Thierry Wizman, Global FX & Rates Strategist at Macquarie, said Friday's U.S. employment report wasn't weak enough to spur the Fed to start its easing cycle with a 50bp cut. "That would likely require a financial crash between now and next week," Wizman said, before adding: "But the employment report had enough weak spots to suggest that the US economy is still slouching toward recession, all the same."