Canadian equities barely cleared Tuesday, recouping at least some of the losses they saw in the previous session as metals and energy stocks headed higher.
The S&P/TSX Composite index inched up 5.02 points to close the day at 12,220.45
The Canadian dollar gained 0.49 cents at 102.77 cents U.S.
Among metals and mining issues Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. shares gained 4.9% to $3.22, while Teck Resources picked up 5.1% to $30.72
Energy stocks gained, led by Crew Energy Inc., which rose 1.9% to $7.37 ahead of its Tuesday afternoon energy conference, and Legacy Oil + Gas Inc, which climbed 0.6% to $6.96
Gold stocks such as Barrick Gold faded 0.4% to $38.39 and Goldcorp. dipped 0.2% to $41.12
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported this morning that Canada's merchandise exports fell 3.4% and imports decreased 2.2% in July. As a result, the agency says, Canada's trade deficit with the world expanded from $1.9 billion in June to $2.3 billion in July.
Moreover, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released figures this morning saying that housing starts surged unexpectedly to 224,900 units in August, compared with 208,000 units in July. The July figure was revised down slightly from a previously-reported 208,500 units.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 3.89 points to 1,274.60
The 14 Toronto subgroups were divided evenly between gainers and losers. Metals and mining led the winners, up 1.5%, while global base metals gathered 1.4% and information technology took on 0.8%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by health-care, down 1.3%, real-estate, off 0.7%, and financials, sliding 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday, rebounding from the previous day's pullback, as investors geared up for key decisions out of Europe and from the Federal Reserve later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial average hiked 69.07 points to finish at 13,323.40
The S&P 500 index gained 4.99 points, to 1,434.07, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.50 points to 3,104.53.
The day's gains put the Dow back at its highest level since December 2007, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are within spitting distance of the multi-year highs reached last week.
Financial stocks were among the biggest gainers, with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley all moving higher.
Hewlett-Packard expects to lay off 29,000 workers over the next two years, or 2,000 more than it had originally said. Shares of the PC maker gained 2.4%, making it among the leaders on the Dow.
Digital Domain Media Group, the company behind the Tupac hologram that was a hit at the Coachella music festival earlier this year, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday. Private investment firm Searchlight Capital Partners will buy the company's main operating unit, Digital Domain Productions, for $15 million U.S. As a result of the bankruptcy filing, the New York Stock Exchange immediately suspended trading for the company's shares and delisted them from the exchange.
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup said they have agreed that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the wealth brokerage unit they had shared since 2009, is worth $13.5 billion U.S. The valuation paves the way for Morgan Stanley to snap up the remainder of the 17,000-person strong brokerage at favourable pricing. Morgan Stanley already owns 51% of the joint venture, which will be renamed Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as the firm phases out the Smith Barney brand.
British fashion brand Burberry lowered its sales guidance for the rest of the year Thursday, in another sign that the global luxury market continues to lag. Shares of Tiffany & Co. Coach and Ralph Lauren were lower on the news.
Legg Mason shares spiked after the company said CEO Mark Fetting will step down at the beginning of October. The company has been facing activist investor pressure as it struggles to attract funds. In fact, Legg Mason assets under management have been declining since 2008.
Shares of Facebook were on the rise Tuesday, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg readies to hit the stage for an interview at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.
Shares of bailed out insurer AIG continued to slide Tuesday. The Treasury Department said Sunday it is selling $18 billion U.S.worth of AIG shares, representing more than half of its remaining $29-billion U.S. stake in the bailed-out insurer.
Global markets were mixed ahead of Wednesday's ruling from Germany's Constitutional Court on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent bailout fund that's expected to have a maximum lending capacity of €500 billion.
Investors are waiting to see how the ruling may impact the European Central Bank's plans to preserve the euro, which remains near its highest level against the U.S. dollar since May.
On the domestic front, investors are waiting to hear if the Fed will announce highly anticipated new stimulus measures when it wraps up its two-day policy meeting on Thursday.
The Census Bureau's July report on the U.S. trade balance showed a deficit of $42 billion U.S. Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting a $44-billion U.S. deficit
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell a bit, boosting yields to 1.69% from Monday’s 1.68%.
Oil prices for September delivery tacked on 47 cents to $97.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped a dollar an ounce to $1,733.90 U.S.
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