Stock market moved slightly forward in Toronto on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of remarks by the U.S. and Canada's central bank chairs, while Lithium America soared after a favorable ruling on the Thacker Pass project.
The TSX opened Tuesday recovered 22.92 points to 20,651.84.
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.02 cents at 74.40 cents U.S.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem will be speaking at the CFA Society in Quebec at 12:45 p.m. ET, a day after BoC's survey showed that market participants expected the central bank to cut interest rates by a half a percentage point to 4% by December.
Limiting losses on the resource-heavy index, Lithium Americas jumped $2.58, or 8.2%, to $34.14, after a U.S. judge on Monday ordered regulators to reconsider part of the permit approving LAC's Thacker Pass lithium mine project in Nevada,
Hut 8 Mining dropped 29 cents, or 9.1%, to $2.90, after the company said it will merge with rival U.S. Bitcoin Corp to create a crypto mining giant in North America.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported, in December, Canada's merchandise exports decreased 1.2%, while imports were down 1.3%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $219 million in November to $160 million in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained seven points, or 1.1%, to 620.60.
Eight of the 12 subgroups were lower midday, with health-care sliding 1.3%, real-estate subsided 1.1%, and information technology headed south 1%.
The four gainers were led by energy, ahead 1.7%, while gold raced 1% higher, and materials acquired 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped Tuesday as investors awaited a speech in Washington by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for hints on the direction of interest rates.
The 30-stock index dropped 88.82 points at 33,802.20.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.62 points to 4,110.46
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 19.03 points, however, to 11,906.48.
A speech from Powell at the Economic Club of Washington scheduled for Tuesday afternoon remains top of mind for investors. Market participants view the appearance as an opportunity for Powell to offer more clarity on where rates are headed, or clarify some comments made after last week’s 25 basis point interest rate hike.
Earnings season pressed on Tuesday, with results from companies such as Chipotle coming after the bell. So far this season, a little over half of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, with about 69% surpassing expectations, according to FactSet data.
Hertz gained 7% and DuPont advanced 5%, on the back of earnings that came in above Wall Street expectations. Royal Caribbean added more than 4% after offering an outlook for 2023 earnings that was above analyst expectations. Pinterest and Chegg slid after reporting earnings post-market Monday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury subsided, raising yields to 3.66% from Monday’s 3.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced $2.71 to $76.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $8.20 to $1,887.70 U.S. an ounce.
