Stocks in Canada’s largest market opened marginally positive on Tuesday as Bombardier Inc stock surged after the planemaker announced a CSeries partnership with Airbus, but gains were offset by mining shares, which fell on lower metal prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index began the day up 34.55 points at 15,837.25
The Canadian dollar fell 0.24 cents to 79.63 cents U.S.
Bombardier’s CEO says Airbus SE’s acquisition of a majority stake in his company’s CSeries jetliner means the aircraft can be made in the United States and should enable the Canadian plane maker to skirt U.S. trade tariffs.
Bombardier shares jumped 46 cents, or 19.5%, to $2.82.
Desjardins raised the price target on Brookfield Renewable Partners LP to $43.50. Brookfield units gained 25 cents to $43.76.
RBC started coverage on Stella-Jones with an outperform rating and a price target of $56.00. Stella-Jones shares hiked $1.17, or 2.4%, to $49.66.
Trade ministers from the United States, Canada and Mexico wrap up a contentious round of NAFTA trade talks on Tuesday marked by aggressive U.S. demands that have left the future of the 23-year-old free trade pact in doubt.
The Bank of Canada said Monday Canadian companies have seen capacity and labour market pressures intensify over the past year, but that has not yet hit their ability to meet demand, underscoring expectations the bank will not raise interest rates next week.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.95 points to begin Tuesday at 790.54
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the session’s first hour, with industrials up 0.6%, while financials and utilities each climbed 0.5%.
The three laggards were gold and materials, each off 0.5%, and health-care slid 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average traded slightly higher on Tuesday, buoyed by strong quarterly results from UnitedHealth Group and Johnson & Johnson. The 30-stock index was also close to reaching 23,000 for the first time.
The index gained 24.21 points above Monday’s all-time record to 22,981.17. Shares of Goldman Sachs were shaving off nearly 30 points from the Dow, while UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson added a total of 73 points in early trade.
The S&P 500 subsided 0.26 points to 2,557.38, after Morgan Stanley and Harley-Davidson reported their quarterly results.
Shares of Morgan Stanley rose 2.6% as the company's wealth management business posted strong quarterly results. Harley-Davidson shares, meanwhile, gained 1.4% in choppy trade. Harley's stock traded lower earlier as its U.S. motorcycle sales fell 8.1% during the third quarter.
The NASDAQ slid 2.11 points to 6,621.79, Netflix posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue, boosted by stronger-than-expected subscriber growth.
UnitedHealth reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast, helped by growth across all its businesses. Shares of the largest U.S. health insurer rose 5.1% in early trade.
Johnson & Johnson also reported better-than-expected quarterly results, driven by its pharmaceutical business and its recent acquisition of Swiss biotech Actelion and other businesses. The company's stock rose more than 1%.
Goldman Sachs' stock slipped 1.4%; it briefly traded higher after its third-quarter earnings and revenue beat Wall Street expectations. Fixed income trading revenue totaled $1.45 billion, a 26% year-over-year drop, but was enough to top an expert estimate of $1.38 billion.
Hopes of U.S. tax reform have received a boost lately after the House passed a $4.1-trillion budget. The Senate is expected to vote on a budget bill later this week.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.32% from Monday’s 2.3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices edged up five cents a barrel to $51.92 U.S.
Gold prices lost $16.10 to $1,286.90 U.S. an ounce
