Equities in Canada’s largest centre blew out of the starting blocks on Tuesday, aided by gains in mining and technology stocks, although concerns around soaring inflation and a global slowdown capped their gains.
The S&P/TSX galloped 216.65 points or 1.1%, to begin trading Tuesday at 20,423.06
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.14 cents at 77.96 cents U.S.
RBC raised the target price on Emera Inc. to $72.00 from $66.00. Emera shares began Tuesday up 30 cents to $62.98.
CIBC cut the target price on Royal Bank of Canada to $146.00 from $149.00. RBC shares sprang $1.88, or 1.5%, to $128.77.
CIBC cuts target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank to $100.00 from $103.00. TD shares acquired $1.17, or 1.3%, to $93.31.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported foreign investors acquired $46.9 billion of Canadian securities in March, the largest investment since April 2020.
At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $24.0 billion, following a $9.9-billion divestment in February.
Meanwhile, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts spiked 8% over a month earlier to 267,330 units in April above market expectations of 246,400 units.
CHMC also said urban starts surged by 10% to 245,324 units in April, as multi-unit urban starts climbed by 14% to 178,092 units and single-detached urban starts increased by 1% to 67,232 units
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hoisted 10.57 points, or 1.5%, to 711.11.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green in the first hour, health-care haler 2.7%, information technology up 1.7%, and financials flying 1.4%.
The two laggards were consumer staples, backing off 0.9%, and gold, lower 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were sharply higher on Tuesday as the market tried to bounce from a punishing bear market for the tech-heavy Nasdaq and a sharp pullback for the S&P 500.
The Dow Jones Industrials stormed ahead 300.28 points, to open Tuesday at 32,523.70.
The S&P 500 leaped 53.82 points, or 1.3%, to 4,061.83
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 192.36 points, or 1.7%, to 11,855.78.
Shares of Citigroup and Paramount Global surged on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed its holdings in the two companies.
Citigroup jumped 6% after Warren Buffett’s conglomerate revealed it added a nearly $3 billon stake in the struggling bank during the first quarter.
Citi shares have underperformed the rest of the financial sector in the past 12 months, down nearly 40%.
Meanwhile, shares of Paramount Global also surged nearly 13% after Berkshire built a stake worth $2.6 billion in the company as of the end of March.
Semiconductor stocks climbed. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices jumped more than 4% following an upgrade from Piper Sandler, which said the stock looked attractive after falling 34.5% this year. Nvidia’s stock price rose 3%, Qualcomm’s jumped 2.4% and Micron Technology’s rose 2%.
Travel stocks popped after United Airlines raised its revenue outlook for the second quarter on improved consumer demand. United Airlines’ stock price rose 4%, Delta’s jumped 3% and American Airlines’ advanced 3%.
Home Depot shares rose more than 3% after the home improvement retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results. The company also raised its full-year outlook.
Meanwhile, Walmart shares dropped more than 5% after the retail giant reported an earnings miss because of inflation pressure. The company raised its sales outlook, but lowered its profit forecast.
Investors will also be monitoring comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell who will speak on the central bank’s plans to address inflation at a Wall Street Journal conference at 2 p.m. ET.
On the economic front, retail sales numbers came in about as expected. Consumer spending on retail rose 0.9% in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They rose 0.4% excluding spending on autos.
Treasury prices sagged, raising yields to 2.96% from Monday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices surged $1.04 at $115.24 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $5.10 to $1,819.10 U.S. an ounce.
