Equities in Canada’s largest market found their way higher early Tuesday, on stronger-than-expected domestic manufacturing data and with financial stocks gaining on the potential of a more upbeat economic assessment by the Bank of Canada at an interest rate decision this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 49.8 points to open Tuesday at 15,350.18
The Canadian dollar edged higher 0.06 cents to 79.63 cents U.S.
Alberta on Monday edged closer to cutting off fuel shipments to neighbouring British Columbia in an escalation of a row over the stalled $7.4-billion expansion of the Kinder Morgan Canada Trans Mountain pipeline.
Kinder shares inched up two cents to $17.39
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Rogers Communications to $66.00 from $71.00.
Rogers shares gained 32 cents to $57.55.
CIBC cut the target price on Spartan Energy to $6.50 from $8.00. Spartan shares took on eight cents to $6.25.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales increased 1.9% to $55.8 billion in February, following two consecutive monthly decreases. The growth was due mainly to higher sales in the transportation equipment industry.
Elsewhere, foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $4.0 billion in February, down from $5.6 billion in January. Meanwhile, Canadian investment in foreign securities slowed to $6.3 billion, following two months of strong acquisitions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 4.84 points to 797.12
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, leading off Tuesday. Information technology sprinted 1.5%, while materials improved 0.5%, and consumer discretionary stocks gained 0.3%.
Health-care was the lone naysayer, off 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded sharply higher on Tuesday as investor sentiment was boosted by strong results from some of the biggest U.S. companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average vaulted 231.41 points to 24,804.45, with UnitedHealth as the best-performing stock in the index
The S&P 500 strengthened 20.84 points to 2,698.68, as consumer discretionary and tech gained more than 1% each.
The NASDAQ Composite index gained 79.97 points, or 1.1%, to 7,236.25, as shares of Netflix jumped nearly 7%.
Netflix was the biggest mover in the S&P 500 after reporting in-line quarterly earnings and higher-than-expected subscriber growth.
UnitedHealth shares rose 4% after it reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its outlook for 2018.
Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter, boosted by a 38% jump in equities trading revenue. Johnson & Johnson posted a profit that surpassed estimates, boosted by a strong performance by its pharmaceuticals segment.
IBM, CSX and United Continental are among the companies set to report Tuesday after the close.
Wall Street has high expectations for this earnings season, with analysts expecting a 17.3% increase in first-quarter earnings
On the economic data front, housing starts rebounded in March, totaling 1.319 million versus estimates of 1.262 million.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sagged, raising yields to 2.84% from Monday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were down 31 cents a barrel to $65.91 U.S.
Gold prices slid $6.80 to $1,343.90 U.S. an ounce.
