Stocks in Toronto rose slightly on Tuesday as gains in the resource and financial sectors offset a decline in shares of TMX Group after Scotia Capital and Alberta Investment Management said they would cut their stake in the company.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 37.63 points to greet noon at 15,742.63
The Canadian dollar stayed afloat 0.08 cents to 79.99 cents U.S
Shares of TMX tumbled 4.6% to $67.38 after the two companies agreed to reduce their stake in the Toronto Stock Exchange owner to less than 5% each.
Bank of Nova Scotia, which owns Scotia Capital, edged up 0.2% at $80.11.
Toronto Dominion Bank was the biggest lift on the index, rising 0.4% to $71.55, while Royal Bank of Canada gained 0.3% to $97.31.
The materials sector also boosted the index with First Quantum Minerals up 3.9% at $15.05, while the gold producers sub-sector rose 0.7%
Shares of Pembina Pipeline Corp rose 1.2% to $44.20 the day after the company said it has closed its acquisition of Veresen Inc.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 1.52 points to 781.98
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups continued positive into noon hour, with gold rising 1.1%, materials better by 0.9%, and real-estate climbing 0.4%.
The four laggards were weighed most by information technology and health-care, each off 0.4%, and industrials, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Tuesday, building on strong gains from their previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrials continued on the move, adding 76.9 points to Monday’s record, to greet noon at 22,634.50, with UnitedHealth contributing the most to the gains. The 30-stock index was also on track to post a five-day winning streak.
The S&P 500 picked up 2.37 points to 2,531.49, on top of Monday’s all-time record. Telecommunications led advancers while utilities lagged.
The NASDAQ, regained 5.39 points to 6,522.11, after spending the early hours in the red, and also managed to hit a record high.
In economic news, monthly auto sales data will be released throughout the day.
While some Wall Street experts have expressed concern over equity valuations, billionaire Warren Buffett said they made sense given where interest rate are. Buffett said rates have been a "powerful factor" in equity values.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates twice this year, with investors largely expecting a third rate hike in December.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were up a tad, lowering yields to 2.33% from Monday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 16 cents a barrel to $50.42 U.S.
Gold prices gained 90 cents to $1,276.70 U.S. an ounce
