Canada's main stock index opened higher on Tuesday, as shares of precious and base metals miners helped boost the materials sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index picked up 61.12 points to open Tuesday at 16,052.24
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.53 cents at 76.83 cents U.S.
ConocoPhillips is preparing to offload its stake in Cenovus Energy, which it acquired as part of an asset sale to the Canadian oil and gas producer last year.
Cenovus shares inched up three cents to $12.70.
Health-care stocks showed the way, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals up $1.16, or 4.1%, to $29.59, while Canopy Growth popped $1.39, or 3.5%, to $40.93.
CIBC started coverage on Stella-Jones with an outperform rating, and a $55.00 price target. Stella-Jones shares gained 31 cents to $46.73.
Teck Resources leaped at the outset by $1.10, or 3.1%, to $36.64.
Desjardins raised the target price on Calian Group to $39 from $38. Calian shares jumped 81cents, or 2.5%, to $32.70.
Consumer staples weighed things down, however, as Saputo lost two cents to $44.45.
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that while Canada's economy has performed well, it faces significant risks including trade tensions and a potential hit to competitiveness from lower U.S. corporate taxes.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture recovered 1.55 points to 763.31
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, with health-care ahead 2.5%, materials better by 1.1%, and information technology climbing 1%.
The three laggards were consumer staples, down 0.5%, energy sinking 0.2%, and real-estate, off 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite notched an intraday record high on Tuesday as tech shares rose.
The Dow Jones Industrials crawled higher 2.95 points to 24,816.64,
The S&P 500 gained 3.75 points to 2,750.62,
The NASDAQ picked up 31.19 points to 7,637.65, as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Alphabet all traded higher. Mylan also contributed to the gains, rising 6.8% after the Food and Drug Administration approved Fulphila as a biosimilar drug to Neulasta, which aims at reducing the risk of infections during cancer treatment.
Tuesday's gains for the NASDAQ come after the index posted a record closing high for the first time since March 12 in the previous session as Amazon and Apple climbed to all-time highs.
In data, the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index reached 58.6 in May, above an expected print of 57.6. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the service sector while a reading below 50 signals contraction.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury eked higher, dropping yields to 2.93% from Monday’s 2.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 21 cents at $64.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices listed lower $1.90 to $1,295.40 U.S. an ounce.
