Canada's main stock index gained on Tuesday as domestic factory sales rose for a third straight month in July, signalling that a post-pandemic economic rebound was on track.
The TSX leaped 135.55 points to venture into noon hour Tuesday at 16,495.69.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.07 cents to 75.82 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was First Quantum Minerals, which jumped 35 cents, or 2.8%, to $13.00, a day after saying it planned on expanding operations at the Kansanshi mine in Zambia, Africa's biggest copper mine.
MAG Silver fell 22 cents, or 1%, to $22.55, while First Majestic Silver was down 23 cents, or 1.4%, to $16.15.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were Canadian
Natural Resources up 41 cents, or 1.7%, to $24.19, while BCE took on 83 cents, or 1.5%, to $56.58, and Suncor Energy, gaining 12 cents to $17.94.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales increased for the third consecutive month, rising 7.0% to $53.1 billion in July.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported Tuesday home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems increased a further 6.2% in August, raising them to another new all-time monthly record. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 33.5% year-over-year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange reversed and dropped 2.37 points to 739.36.
All 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, with utilities leading the pack, picking up 2.1%, while real-estate strengthened 1.5%, and communications up 1.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks jumped on Tuesday, building on the strong performance from the previous session, on the back of further tech gains and solid economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained positive by Tuesday noon, 106.36 points to 28,099.69.
The S&P 500 progressed 31.57 points to 3,415.11.
The NASDAQ progressed 170.12 points, or 1.5%, to 11,226.77, continuing its recovery from the index’s worst week since March.
Apple improved 1.4%, and Microsoft rose 1.6%. Amazon rose 1% and Alphabet climbed 1.9%. Netflix gained 3.3% and Facebook traded higher by 2.2%. Tesla shares, meanwhile, popped 5.8% after surging more than 12% on Monday.
Sentiment was boosted on Monday by positive news on the vaccine front, with AstraZeneca resuming its phase three trial in the United Kingdom and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla saying over the weekend the company should be able to present key data from its trial to regulators by the end of October.
Optimism about the United States getting a better handle on the virus was a major reason that LPL Financial raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to a range of 3,450–3,500 on Monday, according to equity strategists. That target implies an upside of roughly 2% for the market over the rest of the year.
In the U.S., the Empire State Manufacturing index came in at 17 for September, rebounding from a print of 3.7 in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the index to come in at 7.
Stocks also got a boost after China reported its first retail sales increase for the year. The country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Chinese retail sales rose 0.5% in August.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were lower, raising yields to 0.68% from Monday’s 0.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices increased 67 cents to $37.93 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $4.10 to $1,959.60 U.S. an ounce.
