Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, as financial stocks gained on stronger-than-expected gains in March wholesale trade and energy shares got a boost from rising oil price. Health-care issues also impressed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gathered 65.76 points to greet noon at 16,228.07, surpassing the mark of 16,209.13, at which it closed on New Year’s Eve 2017.
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 78.26 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada were closed on Monday for Victoria Day.
One of the largest percentage gainers were Aurora Cannabis, which jumped 27 cents, or 3.4% to $8.19, after it made a strategic investment in CTT Pharmaceutical and Canopy Growth Co. Shares of Canopy Growth rose $1.10, or 3.1%, to $37.14.
Cameco Corp fell 90 cents, or 6.1%, to $13.75, the largest drop on the TSX.
Another huge decliner was e-commerce software maker Shopify Inc, which fell $13.66, or 7.2%, to $175.59, after Adobe Systems announced it was buying rival Magento Commerce.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth and Bombardier Inc.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported wholesale trade rose 1.1% to $62.8 billion in March, more than offsetting the decline in February. The motor vehicle and parts sub-sector contributed the most to the gain.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.03 points to 788.42
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups remained higher by noon, with energy gushing 1.3%, health-care better by 1.1%, and financials up 0.8%.
The three laggards were information technology, off 1.3%, while gold fell 0.3%, and utilities inched back 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ composite indexes rose slightly on Tuesday, building on strong gains from the previous session, after China said it will reduce levies on automakers and car parts.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 29.29 points to 24,984, after starting the session trading higher.
The S&P 500 gained 3.78 points to 2,735.79, as utilities and telecom outperformed.
The NASDAQ gained 5.88 points to 7,399.92
The Chinese Finance Ministry said tariffs on certain vehicles will come down to 15% from as much as 25% while levies on some parts will be brought down to 6% effective July 1.
Shares of Ford and General Motors rose on the news, gaining about 0.5% each. Tesla initially rose more than 1% before sliding 2.4%.
The announcement by China comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the media on Monday the U.S. has made "very meaningful progress" with China on trade matters, noting: "Now it's up to both of us to make sure that we can implement it."
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were slightly lower, raising yields to 3.08% from Monday’s 3.06%. Treasury prices and yields tend to move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 47 cents at $72.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.10 at $1,292.00 U.S. an ounce.
