Canada's main stock index advanced on Tuesday as reports of strong sales of the new BlackBerry device boosted the smartphone maker and energy stocks rose after data showed signs of a recovery in the European economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 28.03 points to close Tuesday at 12,745.65
The Canadian dollar picked up one quarter of a cent to 100.38 cents U.S.
BlackBerry, whose shares jumped 15% on Monday, climbed another 6.4% to $15.95, after analyst reports indicated strong sales of the new Z10 model in Canada and Britain.
Recovering from a two-and-a-half-week low reached the previous session, the Toronto index also got a boost from Markit's Euro-zone Composite PMI, which showed business activity across thousands of companies had risen in January to a 10-month high.
In the energy sector, Suncor Energy Inc, Canada's largest energy company, gained 0.8% to $34.43, and TransCanada Corp added 0.7% to $48.30.
Another successful sector was in consumer staples, where Alimentation Couche-Tard led the way, gaining nearly 2% to $50.21. Among industrials, Chorus Aviation sprouted wings and flew 4.3% to $4.65.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 1.23 points to end the session at 1,215.27
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups remained positive throughout the day, led by information technology issues, soaring 2.3%, while consumer staples were ahead 0.7%, and energy stocks gained 0.6%.
The three laggards were gold, down 0.5%, materials, off 0.2%, and financials, sliding 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Tuesday, with the Dow pushing to within sight of 14,000, as investors turned their attention to corporate news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered 99.22 points to end the day at 13,979.30
The S&P 500 index reacquired 15.57 points to 1,511.28. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite vaulted 40.41 points to 3,171.58
All 30 Dow components were higher, led by Bank of America and Boeing, which hopes the Federal Aviation Administration will allow Dreamliner test flights to find the source of the aircraft's issues.
The highly anticipated announcement of a $24.4-billion U.S. leveraged buyout of computer maker Dell also helped market momentum Tuesday. The deal, if completed, would be one of the largest LBOs ever.
Shares of Dell rival Hewlett-Packard jumped more than 2% after HP said it plans to target Dell’s customers during the transition.
Shares of UK cable operator Virgin Media rallied 17%, making it the biggest gainer on the Nasdaq. The company confirmed it has been approached by media billionaire John Malone's Liberty Global about a possible deal.
Shares of McGraw Hill dropped nearly 8% after the U.S. Justice Department sued S&P, Investors also had a slew of earnings to pore through.
BP kicked off the day with results noting the company paid out billions in fines to the U.S. government, yet shares rose more than 1%,
UBS meanwhile, posted a $2 billion loss driven by Libor funds. The Swiss banking giant also reported it is capping its largest bonuses at $1.1 million U.S, half the previous cap.
Shares of Yum! Brands sank 3%, a day after the restaurant operator said it expected earnings to fall in 2013 based on its recent struggles in China.
Mastercard shares rose nearly 1% after the company announced it will start a new stock repurchase program and double its quarterly cash dividends to 60 cents per share.
Shares of J.C. Penney were up more than 3%, after the retailer filed a lawsuit to protect itself from having nearly $3 billion in debt come due in the next few months.
Baidu shares tumbled 10% on analysts' worries about the company's rising costs.
Disney and Zynga are on tap to report after the closing bell.
The one key economic report Tuesday -- the Institute for Supply Management's monthly services sector index -- came in slightly below expectations, but investors shrugged that off and kept buying stocks.
The ISM non-manufacturing index moderated to 55.2 in January from 55.7 in the previous month. Market expectations were for a slightly larger decline in the measure to 55.0.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 2.02% from Monday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up 43 cents to $96.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $3.20 to $1,673.20 U.S. an ounce.
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