TSX moves higher as investors weigh Greece, Spain events, Extorre Gold in focus 

(MENAFN - ProactiveInvestors - N.America) Toronto's main market erased losses from early Monday, edging higher in the afternoon as gains on Greece's election results were stifled by rising bond yields in both Spain and Italy.

As of around noon ET, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 34.47 points, or 0.3%, to 11,559.37, while the more junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite edged up 1.90 points, or 0.15%, to 1,252.92.

On Sunday, the election in Greece saw a win for the pro-bailout New Democracy party, easing fears about the removal of the country from the euro. But the news did not provide enough of a boost, as investors remained concerned about the eurozone.

Spain's 10-year yield was back up above 7% - a level that previously prompted bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Despite the fact the country requested 125 billion in aid for its banking sector, the country has yet to request a bailout for its own sovereign debt.

Spain's IBEX 35 plunged 2.9% Monday, as Spanish bank shares suffered, with other European markets mixed.

Market moves in North America Monday lacked strong conviction, as investors awaited potential stock-shifting news from the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting concluding Wednesday.

Traders are hoping the central bank will launch another round of quantitative easing, or continue Operation Twist, which would lift stocks in the short term.

In Toronto, health care, metals and mining and materials stocks were the leading gainers, while energy stocks were in the red, and financials were hovering around break even.

Commodities were mixed, with gold for August delivery down slightly by 1.2 to 1,626.90 an ounce, and crude oil for July lower by 81 cents to 83.22 a barrel.

Silver futures gained 3.5 cents to 28.77 an ounce, while the base metal copper contract rallied 0.29% to 3.4 a pound.

In mining, Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) and Kinross Gold (TSE:K) were up 0.5% and over 3%, respectively, while Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN) rose 2.4%.

Elsewhere in the sector, Osisko Mining (TSE:OSK) fell more than 1% and copper heavyweight Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B) edged down nearly 0.5%.

Among energy, Suncor Energy (TSE:SU) lost 0.45% and Ensign Energy Services (TSE:ESI) fell 4.8%, while Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) gained 0.7%. Talisman Energy (TSE:TLM) was down 0.7%.

Financials were lately up just slightly as Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) rose 1.3% and Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) was higher by 0.4%.

In corporate news Monday, Argentina-focused junior miner Extorre Gold Mines (AMEX:XG) (TSX:XG) said early Monday morning it has agreed to be bought by Yamana Gold (TSE:YRI) (NYSE:AUY) (LON:YAU) for some 400 million, with Yamana also announcing an 18 per cent dividend increase.

Shares of Extorre rallied more than 65%, while shares of Yamana also gained 0.24%.

Supply chain firm Celestica (TSE:CLS) reported Monday that over the next three to six months, it would wind down its manufacturing services for Research in Motion's (TSE:RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry smartphones.

Prophecy Platinum Corp. (CVE:NKL)(OTCQX:PNIKF) unveiled Monday results from an NI 43-101 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its flagship Wellgreen project in the Yukon, including a whopping 3.0 billion net present value. Shares of the company rallied more than 10 per cent early Monday morning, to 2.54 as of 9:37am ET.

Property and casualty insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings (TSE:FFH) agreed Monday to acquire U.K.-based Brit Insurance Limited from Brit Group in a deal valued at 300 million.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) will record a 600-million after-tax gain in its fiscal third quarter from the sale of its Scotia Plaza office complex in Toronto, which completed last week.

Swiss commodities trader Glencore International Plc said on Friday it agreed to an extension of the Canadian government's review of its proposed takeover of grain handler Viterra (TSE:VT).

On the economic front, Statistics Canada said offshore investors acquired 10.2 billion of Canadian securities in April. Canadian investors' holdings of foreign securities went down by 2.7 billion, predominantly in bonds.

US/Europe

US stocks were mixed Monday morning as Greece's election rally was soon overshadowed by rising Spanish bond yields, with investors also focused on product news from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

The Dow was lately down 0.17%, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.1% and the Nasdaq gained 0.45% on Microsoft.

Microsoft Corp could unveil its own tablet to boost its new Windows 8 operating system and challenge Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, according to media reports.

The move would be a departure from its usual focus on software and potentially throw Microsoft into direct competition against partners such as Samsung and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ).

In other corporate news, an article in the Wall Street Journal Monday said Morgan Stanley's (NYSE:MS) decisions were responsbile for many of the problems with Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) IPO, with Morgan Stanley's shares sliding over 2% after the report.

Footwear retailer DSW (NYSE:DSW) Monday provided second-quarter earnings guidance that fell short of analyst expectations.

The shoe retailer now expects to see second-quarter adjusted per-share earnings of around 60 to 64 cents, lagging behind analyst calls for 75 cents per share.

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:INFI) said it is stopping phase II trials of its investigational drug Saridegib, IPI-926, which was being evaluated for treating bone cancer.

In particular, the drug was targeting was targeting chondrosarcoma, a common type of bone cancer, and myelofibrosis, an incurable condition that affects the bone marrow.

In other news, world leaders will gather in Mexico Monday and Tuesday for the Group of 20 summit.
No economic reports of note were on tap in the US Monday.

European markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The DAX gained 0.30% and the FTSE 100 rose 0.22%. The CAC 40 in France lost 0.69%.