The Toronto stock market was higher early Tuesday as commodity stocks drove gains and concerns over political unrest in Egypt pushed oil prices up.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 37.28 points to greet noon at 12,166.39
The Canadian dollar fell 0.34 at 94.92 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada were closed for Canada Day
TSX technology stocks inched higher as Research In Motion lost 3.3%, or 36 cents, to $10.72 after reporting disappointing earnings on Friday.
Gold stocks tumbled as Barrick got punished $1.21, or 7.3%, to $15.39. Kinross Gold fell 17 cents, or 3.2%, to $5.22.
Telecoms proved the champion by lunch as TELUS Corp. increased $1.51 in price, or 4.9%, to $32.21. Rogers Communications climbed $1.09, or 2.7%, to $42.29.
On the economic slate, RBC said its June Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index indicated that business sentiment continued to improve in the month with an index reading over 50 at 52.4.
Canada’s biggest bank said that, though the pace of improvement was down from May which had an index reading of 53.2, it represented the second highest reading since September of last year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 0.54 points to 881.94
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, led by telecoms, up 1.9%, health-care, increasing 1.1%, and energy, up 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 2.1%, while metals and mining slid 1.7%, materials backed off 1.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks continued to advance Tuesday, thanks to a better-than-expected report on the manufacturing sector.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 44.11 points to 15,019.10
The S&P 500 index took on 5.81 points to 1,620.77. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite gained 10.14 points to 3,444.62
The holiday-shortened week could lead to some choppy trading this week.
U.S. markets close at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday and are closed Thursday for Independence Day.
Zynga shares rose 10% after the online gaming company announced that CEO Mark Pincus is stepping down. Don Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft's Xbox and gaming division, was named as Zynga's new chief.
Nielsen Holdings shares edged higher following news that the company will join the S&P 500 next week, replacing Sprint Nextel
Disney extended chairman and CEO Bob Iger's tenure through June 2016. Iger had previously been scheduled to leave his post in April 2015.
Apple shares were also on the rise, up more than 2%.
Financial stocks were the biggest gainers, with JPMorgan Chase leading the Dow's gains.
Investors were encouraged by a government report that showed factory orders rose 2.1% in May. That was slightly better than forecasts and signaled ongoing improvement in the manufacturing sector.
Investors are expected to remain cautious until Friday, when the U.S. Labor Department will release the June jobs report. Economists predict the U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5% last month.
Economic data has been in sharper focus recently as investors consider when the Federal Reserve may start pulling back on its bond purchases.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury inched higher, dropping yields to 2.48% from Monday’s 2.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 92 cents to $98.91 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $10.50 to $1,245.20 U.S. an ounce.
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