Canada's main stock index gave up early losses to trade higher on Tuesday after a rise in the materials sector more than offset a slide in energy shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite rumbled ahead 75.85 points on top of Monday’s all-time closing high, greeting Tuesday noon at 16,827.16
The Canadian dollar docked 0.09 cents at 75.45 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Restaurant Brands, which rose $2.95, or 3.1%. to $97.61. Dream Industrial REIT, up 40 cents, or 3.2%, to $12.88, was the second-biggest gainer.
Ensign Energy Services fell 13 cents, or 3.2%, the most on the TSX, to $3.92, followed by Teck Resources, which dropped 14 cents to $24.70.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada revealed that manufacturing sales decreased 1.3% to $57.2 billion in July, mainly as a result of lower sales at primary metal and motor vehicle industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.27 points to 587.24
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups gained ground, with gold surging 3.3%, while materials soared 1.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks climbed 1.2%.
The three laggards were weighed by energy, sagging 1.9%, while health-care doffed 0.8%, and information technology lost 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a second straight day on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day monetary policy meeting.
The 30-stock index came off its morning lows, but remained 32.14 points behind breakeven to 27,044.68
The S&P 500 inched up 0.44 points to 2,998.40.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 6.11 points to 8,159.65.
Strong U.S. manufacturing data and a drop in oil prices helped keep the stock market’s losses in check.
Bank stocks fell broadly, as Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America all slid around 1%
The Fed meeting is scheduled to end Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to announce its latest decision on monetary policy.
Market expectations for a 25 basis-point rate cut were at 63.5%. However, the possibility of the Fed keeping rates unchanged has risen lately. Expectations for the central bank to maintain the overnight rate at its current levels are at 36.5%, up from 7.7% a week ago.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 1.80% from Monday’s 1.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices stepped back $3.20 to $59.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $1.60 to $1,513.10 U.S. an ounce.
