Financial stocks propelled issues in Toronto higher Tuesday, as earnings by one of Canada’s major banks stole the spotlight.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 16.58 points to end Tuesday at 14,764.77
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.26 cents to 77.45 cents U.S.
Bank of Montreal presented market watchers with quarterly earnings that beat expectations, and saw its stocks hike $1.85, or 2.2%, to $86.27. Elsewhere, National Bank climbed 65 cents, or 1.4%, to $46.77.
Tech stocks also moved higher, though BlackBerry collected only a penny to $2.00.
Among energy issues, EnCana gained 18 cents, or 1.4% to $13.16, while Imperial Oil was up 27 cents to $41.03. But TMX Group was off $3.29, or 5.4% to $56.75, after three big pension funds announced they were selling a nearly 10% stake in the stock exchange operator.
Gold stocks got bruised, as Iamgold stumbled 28 cents, or 4.7%, to $5.66, while Yamana Gold dropped 27 cents, or 4%, to $6.45.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 2.45 points by the closing bell to 817.79
Seven of the 12 subgroups finished the session in the red, as gold slid 1.9%, materials were negative 1.1%, and utilities lagged 0.7%.
The five gainers were propelled upward by financials, or 0.8%, information technology, ahead 0.5%, while health-care collected 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed on Tuesday, with materials gaining about 1%, as investors looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech at the end of the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained positive by 17.88 points at 18,547.30, with Nike leading advancers and Wal-Mart the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 advanced 4.26 points to 2,186.90, with materials leading eight sectors higher, while consumer staples and utilities lagged.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 15.48 points to 5,260.08, as Apple gained 0.4%.
Investors also digested quarterly results from Best Buy and Toll Brothers, among other firms. Best Buy shares soared 19.6% after beating expectations on both earnings and revenue. Toll Brothers' stock gained about 8.8%.
On the data front, new home sales for July unexpectedly surged, reaching their highest level in almost nine years. Other data released Tuesday included the Markit Manufacturing PMI for August, which came in at 52.1.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped back, raising yields to 1.55% from Monday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 55 cents a barrel to $47.96 U.S.
Gold prices were off a dollar at $1,342.40 U.S. an ounce.
