The Toronto stock market registered a solid triple digit advance Tuesday as positive inflation data from China boosted commodity prices and resource stocks.
The S&P/TSX index strengthened 138.49 points, or 1.1%, to close at 12,484.05
The Canadian dollar gained 0.01 cents at 98.39 cents U.S.
BlackBerry shares were up 20 cents to $15.10 as presales of its BlackBerry Q10, a new generation model with a physical keyboard, began at Canadian carriers Rogers and Telus. Bell will begin preorders on April 19.
Bombardier Inc. shares were eight cents higher to $4.08 after The Wall Street Journal reported that Toronto-based Porter Airlines is preparing to announce an order for up to 30 CSeries jets from the Montreal-based transport company.
It says Porter, which currently uses only Bombardier turboprop planes in its fleet, signed a letter of intent with Bombardier in December. Porter said Tuesday that it will hold a news conference to announce growth plans Wednesday in Toronto.
Copper was up seven cents to $3.44 U.S. a pound, taking the base metals sector up. Teck Resources climbed $1.37 to $29.37 while First Quantum Minerals advanced 28 cents to $19.24.
The gold sector was up as Barrick Gold Corp. gained 40 cents to $27.16 while Goldcorp Inc. was up $1.04 to $32.97.
The energy sector drifted higher as Suncor Energy rose 90 cents to $29.84 and Canadian Natural Resources was 86 cents ahead to $32.04.
The financials sector was also higher and Royal Bank was up 74 cents to $60.18.
SNC-Lavalin was up 40 cents to $43.40 after it said its jointly owned Saudi engineering company, SNC-Lavalin Fayez Engineering, has been awarded a contract to work on a new refining and petrochemical facility in the Middle Eastern country. No financial details were provided.
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 leaped 13.38 points to 1,054.77
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day. Gold led the charge, climbing 3.4%, while metals and mining soared 3.3%, and global base metals gained 3.1%.
Health-care stocks proved the lone loser, fading 0.06%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks gained traction Tuesday afternoon, pushing the Dow to a new record closing high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 58.98 points to end at a new high of 14,673.50. Earlier the index hit an intraday record high of 14,716. Microsoft and Intel were among the biggest gainers on the blue chip index.
The S&P 500 index gained 5.54 points to 1,568.51. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved up 15.81 points to 3,237.86
Solar stocks got a big boost after First Solar issued much-better-than expected guidance. Shares of First Solar soared more than 45%.
Solar energy ETFs, including Guggenheim Solar ETF and Market Vectors ETF spiked, as did solar power company SunPower.
In other corporate news, J.C. Penney shares tumbled after the retailer announced that it was replacing CEO Ron Johnson with his predecessor, Mike Ullman. More than 89 million shares traded by the close -- more than eight times the average trading volume for an entire day.
Meanwhile, Herbalife announced that KPMG had resigned as its auditor because of an alleged insider trading scheme in Herbalife stock that involved one of KPMG's former partners. After being halted for most of the morning, Herbalife's shares closed down 4%. Analysts at DA Davidson downgraded the stock Tuesday afternoon.
KPMG also resigned as the auditor of Skechers as part of the same alleged insider trading situation. After being halted in the morning, Skechers' shares jumped 2% once they resumed trading.
Shares of real estate brokerage firm Realogy dropped nearly 9% in after hours trading, after the parent company of Century 21 and Coldwell Banker announced preliminary first quarter results that missed estimates.
Investors are waiting for more corporate results after Alcoa unofficially kicked off earnings season late Monday. The aluminum producer, which beat analysts' earnings expectations, is often considered a proxy for corporate results.
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 Chase and Wells Fargo are set to release quarterly results later this week.
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 fell, raising yields to 1.75% from Monday’s 1.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 74 cents to $94.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell to $1,584.80
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