Canada's main stock index hit a one-month high on Tuesday, led by gains in financial shares, as positive Covid-19 vaccine developments boosted hopes of a faster economic revival.
The TSX approached noon Tuesday up 146.22 points to 16,622.08.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 76.86 cents U.S.
Canadian drug developer Medicago said on Tuesday a combination of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine and GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine booster produced virus-neutralizing antibodies in all healthy volunteers in an early-stage study.
Medicago shares failed to move, though, remaining at $1.15.
Endeavour Mining faltered $1.98, or 6.2%, to $30.21, after the company said it was in talks with fellow gold mining company Teranga Gold over a potential merger, as it looks to add heft at a time of soaring gold prices. Teranga shares gathered 45 cents, or 3.4%, to $13.59.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Sleep Country Canada Holdings, which jumped out of bed $1.40, or 6.2%, to $24.09, after reporting improved quarterly sales.
Aurora Cannabis fell $3.23, or 22.1%, the most on the TSX, to $11.42, while the second biggest decliner was Kinaxis, down $17.84, or 9.3%, to $173.43.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.11 points to 731.49.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups had cracked breakeven and moved into higher ground by lunch time, with communications soaring 2.4%, financials, 1.8% more prosperous, and utilities 1.1% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, duller by 2%, health-care, down 1.7%, and information technology, sliding 1.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dipped on Tuesday, led by tech, as a market rotation out of names that thrived during the pandemic and into stocks linked to an economic recovery continued.
The Dow Jones Industrials came down from their morning highs, but still towered over the breakeven point by 149.13 points to 29,307.1
The S&P 500 sank 6.95 points to 3,543.55.
The NASDAQ dwindled 120.14 points to 11,593.64.
Amazon shares were down 3.5% after falling 5% on Monday. Zoom Video dropped 10.9%, adding to its 17% decline from Monday. Alphabet ducked 2.3%, and Microsoft lost 3.4%, and Apple pulled back by 1.5%.
Names that would benefit from an economic recovery rose on Tuesday. Chevron and Exxon Mobil were both up at least 1%. Boeing traded 4.3% higher.
While cyclical stocks led the market advance on Monday, the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 1.5% as investors dumped some of the popular stay-at-home plays such as Amazon, Zoom Video and Netflix. The NASDAQ finished Monday’s session near its session low.
Those moves were sparked by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech announcing their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19.
Pfizer’s big vaccine news came as the U.S. topped 10 million cases of Covid-19, a bleak milestone just 10 days after reaching the nine million mark amid a record surge in daily infections. Many on Wall Street believe a viable vaccine would be crucial for the economy on its road to a full recovery.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were lower, lifting yields to 0.95% from Monday’s 0.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 80 cents to $41.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shone brighter $26.90 to $1,881.30
