Equities in Canada’s largest market rose to a two-month high, led by gains for the financial and energy groups, while some lumber stocks rallied after the U.S. set duties on the product that were lower than some market participants had expected.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 60.04 points to open Tuesday at 15,772.50
The Canadian dollar ducked 0.47 cents at 73.53 cents U.S.
Teck Resources reported lower-than-expected profit due to higher costs, lower production and sales volumes.
Teck shares drooped $1.58, or 5.3%, to $28.01.
Barrick Gold reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings on Monday and also slashed its forecast for output and hiked costs at its gold mine in Argentina, where cyanide solution spilled recently for the third time in 18 months.
Shares in the world’s biggest gold miner stumbled $1.50, or 5.8%, to $24.21.
Canadian National Railway on Monday reported an 8% increase in quarterly revenue as the railroad moved record volumes, boosted by grain, frac sand and coal.
CNR shares reversed $2.03, or 2%, to $100.18.
CIBC cut the rating on Semafo to neutral from outperform. Semafo faded 15 cents in price, or 4.5%, to $3.17.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 2.18 points to 818.08.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with consumer staples surging 1.2%, financials richer 0.8%, and consumer discretionaries up 0.7%.
The three laggards were gold, dropping 1.3%, while materials were off 0.7%, and industrials sliding 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities got off to a strong start on Tuesday as solid quarterly reports from several large-cap companies rolled through.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 234.71 points, or 1.1%, to 20,998.60, with Caterpillar contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 hiked 15.51 points to 2,389.66, with financials and materials rising more than 1% to lead advancers
The NASDAQ Composite hit a new intraday high, progressing 36.91 points to 6,020.73
Caterpillar posted EPS of $1.28 and sales of $9.822 billion, versus expected EPS of 62 cents and $9.271 billion revenue forecast.
McDonald's posted EPS of $1.47 and revenue of $5.68 billion, versus expected EPS of $1.33 and sales of $5.53 billion.
3M posted EPS of $2.16 and revenue of $7.685 billion, versus expected EPS of $2.06 and sales of $7.472 billion.
DuPont posted EPS of $1.64 and sales of $7.743 billion, versus expected EPS of $1.39 and revenue of $7.504 billion
More than 190 S&P components are expected to have reported by the end of the week. Other big names scheduled to release quarterly results this week include Boeing, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and General Motors.
However, investors also zeroed in on Washington, as President Donald Trump tried to avoid a government shutdown. Government funding will end Friday unless Congress can agree on at least a temporary funding resolution.
The Trump administration is also expected to release an outline to potential tax reform later this week. Tax reform expectations have been one of the key market drivers since the presidential election.
In economic news, U.S. home prices rose more than expected in February, according to new data from the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
The national home price index jumped 5.8% in February, while analysts were expecting home prices to climb by 5.7%.
New home sales data and consumer confidence data are scheduled for release later this morning.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.31% from Monday’s 2.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 18 cents at $49.05 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dived $8.60 at $1,268.90 U.S. an ounce.
