TSX hits record high on energy boost, BoC meeting awaited

Canada's main stock index hit a record high on Monday as energy stocks rose on higher oil prices, but expectations that the Bank of Canada could strike a hawkish note in its upcoming policy announcement kept gains in check.

The Canadian energy index jumped more than 2% to lead sectoral gains in early trading after oil prices touched multi-year highs.

"Looks like oil prices hit the highest since 2014 this morning and of course that will have positive implications for the energy-levered TSX," said Candice Bangsund, vice president and portfolio manager, global asset allocation at Fiera Capital Corporation.

"So we expect that to be a major contributor to positive, and even outperformance of the Canadian market versus its global peers."

TSX flat as weakness in tech, healthcare offset commodity-linked gains

Gains, however, were capped by rising bets that the Canadian central bank may start tightening monetary policy sooner than expected as it faces increasing pressure to raise interest rates ahead of schedule when it meets on Wednesday, amid rising inflation and a recovering jobs market.

Economists polled by Reuters see the Bank of Canada raising rates as early as the third quarter of next year, at least three months earlier than previously expected.

"We expect the Bank of Canada (BoC) to remain on hold ... however, we expect it to reduce its weekly bond purchases," said analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.62 points, or 0.04, at 21,216.77.

Six of the index's 11 major sectors gained, with materials rising more than 1%, led by shares of miners after gold advanced.

Highlights

Restaurant Brands International Inc fell 2.4% after missing quarterly revenue estimates as Burger King and Tim Hortons struggled with a staffing crunch and the Delta variant keeping coffee-loving office workers at home.

The TSX posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new low.

Across Canadian issues, there were 84 new 52-week highs and 20 new lows, with total volume of 44.79 million shares.