Equities in Toronto opened higher on Tuesday, led by gains in material and energy shares, while markets stayed optimistic about a potential interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada later this month.
The TSX Composite Index began Tuesday ahead 62.51 points to 29.090.24.
The Canadian dollar erased 0.10 cents to 72.38 cents U.S.
Expectations that the BoC and the U.S. Federal Reserve will resume their easing cycles have supported sentiment since Friday, following disappointing jobs data from both the United States and Canada.
Investors assign a 92.5% probability that the Bank of Canada will lower its benchmark rate from 2.75% on Sept. 17.
Among other commodities, oil and copper prices edged higher.
Markets were also assessing multiple mergers and acquisitions deals.
London-listed miner Anglo American and Teck Resources said on Tuesday they plan to merge, in what would be the biggest mining-sector
M&A deal in more than a decade.
Teck shares zoomed $6.34, or 13.1%, to $54.84.
Separately, the bidding war for Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy heated up as Strathcona Resources raised its offer to outbid larger rival Cenovus Energy.
Shares in MEG gathered 31 cents, or 1.1%, to $29.33, while those for Strathcona took on 86 cents, or 2.2%, to $39.17, and Cenovus advanced 89 cents, or 4%, to $23.01.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added one point to 864.93
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground in the first hour, as telecoms shed 0.9%, health-care pointed downward 0.7%, and consumer staples were poorer by 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by energy, rumbling 1.8%, materials, better by 0.9%, and gold, ahead 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday after the NASDAQ Composite hit a new record.
The Dow Jones Industrials struggled for a gain of 16.73 points to open Tuesday at 45,531.68.
The S&P 500 gained 4.74 points to 6,499.89.
The tech-heavy index took on 21.51 points to 21,820.21
The Labor Department updated its jobs figures for the 12 months through March, lowering the total payroll gains during that period by a whopping 911,000.
While the data had minimal impact on stocks Tuesday because its regarding figures from six months ago, the report may reinforce calls for the Federal Reserve to be more aggressive with rate cuts this year.
Wall Street is coming off a winning session. The NASDAQ rose 0.5%, as key chipmakers such as Broadcom and Nvidia helped carry the tech-heavy index to all-time highs.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%. The 30-stock Dow gained more than 100 points.
But investors are now awaiting two key inflation reports that could determine what Federal Reserve policymakers will do at their meeting next week. Last week, a surprisingly weak jobs report added to hopes the path for interest rates is lower.
Prices for 10-year Treasury declined Tuesday, raising yields to 4.07% from Monday’s 4.04%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved higher 84 cents to $63.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $11.30 to $3,688.70 U.S. an ounce.
