Toronto's main stock index opened higher, as lower-than-expected Chinese inflation raised hopes of an accommodative monetary policy and the U.S. earnings season got off to a good start.
The S&P/TSX index strengthened 54.67 points early Tuesday to 12,399.23
The Canadian dollar gained 0.08 cents at 98.42 cents U.S.
Shaw Communications Inc. said on Monday that it would pay $225 million to acquire a fiber-optic network in Calgary from city-owned power company Enmax Corp. Shares were unchanged at $26.50 to begin Tuesday.
Carrier Porter Aviation Holdings Inc is set to announce an order for up to 30 C-Series jets made by Bombardier Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the deal. Bombardier shares inched up 5.5 cents to $4.055.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that municipalities issued building permits worth $6.0 billion in February, up 1.7% from January.
Elsewhere, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts in Canada were trending at 189,742 units in March, with the standalone monthly Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate at 184,028 units in March, up slightly from 183,207 in February.
Abroad, official data showing March consumer prices in China rose at a less-than-expected rate of 2.1% from the year-ago month.
The increase was markedly lower than the 3.2% inflation recorded in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.62 points to 1,044.01
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher in early trade, led by a 2.5% surge in metals and mining stock prices. Global base metals soared 1.7%, and gold shone 1.4% brighter.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by health-care issues, down 0.5%, while information technology and real-estate each declined 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday, boosted by a relatively auspicious start to earnings season from aluminum producer Alcoa.
The Dow Jones Industrials began the session up 10.29 points, to 14,623.80
The S&P 500 index gained 0.53 points to 1,561.60. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite eked ahead 4.26 points to 3,226.52
Alcoa reported earnings late Monday that beat analyst expectations but sales missed forecasts.
Over the past 10 years, when Alcoa beat earnings estimates, the S&P 500 rose an average 4.4% during the following three months, according to FactSet, which forecast overall earnings growth to contract 0.6%.
Mega-banks JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are set to release quarterly results later this week.
In corporate news, J.C. Penney shares sank sharply, a day after the retailer announced that it was replacing CEO Ron Johnson with his predecessor, Mike Ullman.
After this year's strong run, most analysts expect investors to periodically tap on the brakes. All three major indexes have rallied 8% to 12% since January, and the Dow and S&P 500 have both set new record highs this month.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury were static, keeping yields at Monday’s 1.73%.
Oil prices dipped 49 cents to $92.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $3.80 to $1,576.70 U.S. an ounce.
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