Equities in Toronto treaded water at the open on Tuesday as gains in energy stocks were offset by weakness in the materials sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dipped 21.72 points to begin Tuesday’s session at 17,884.30.
The Canadian dollar swooned 0.25 cents to 78.84 cents U.S.
Great Canadian Gaming Corp said CEO Rod Baker has resigned, after he and his wife were charged with traveling to northern Canada and misleading authorities in order to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
GC shares closed Monday at $43.21.
National Bank of Canada raised the rating on Cineplex to outperform from sector perform. Cineplex shares gained 12 cents, or 1.2%, to $11.16.
CIBC raised the target price on Onex Corp. to $92.00 from $81.00. Onex shares picked 45 cents to $70.54.
CIBC raised the rating on TFI International to outperform from neutral. TFII shares galloped $11.56, or 13.4%, to $97.64.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.74 points, to 963.24
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as Wall Street geared up for the heart of corporate earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 92.09 points to 31,052.09
The S&P 500 gained 8.59 points to 3,863.95
The NASDAQ added another 45.22 points to Monday’s all-time to 13,681.21.
Tuesday brings the corporate earnings of larger companies with more impact on the market indexes. General Electric shares jumped 9% on its better-than-expected industrial free cash flow for the fourth quarter and a rosy outlook for the year. Johnson & Johnson popped more than 3% after the drugmaker’s earnings topped expectations.
Tech giant Microsoft will announce its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the bell. Shares of Microsoft climbed more than 1%.
Wild swings resumed in heavily shorted stocks, including GameStop and AMC Entertainment, as enthusiastic retail investors active in chat rooms bet against short-selling hedge funds. The volatility has some investors concerned about stocks becoming detached from fundamentals as speculation runs rampant.
GameStop was up another 20% on Tuesday on no news. AMC gained more than 10%.
Companies started the earnings season with a high beat rate. Of the S&P 500 components that have already reported earnings, 73% have beaten on both sales and earnings, according to data from Bank of America.
On the COVID-19 front, health officials and policymakers continued to caution the public about new strains of the virus. Moderna said Monday that its vaccine does provide some protection against a variant found in South Africa, while officials in Minnesota reported the first U.S. confirmed case of a strain found in Brazil.
Investors are also waiting for a new policy statement from the Federal Reserve as the central bank begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday.
Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen was confirmed as Treasury secretary, becoming the first woman to hold the position.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were unchanged, keeping yields at Monday’s 1.04%.
Oil prices lost three cents to $52.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.40 to $1,856.60 U.S. an ounce.
