The Toronto stock market moved higher Tuesday amid a slate of economic data coming out this week and hopes for strong fourth-quarter earnings.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 101.39 points to close Tuesday at 13,596.93
The Canadian dollar tumbled 1.02 cents to 92.84 cents U.S.
The tech sector was among the TSX’s biggest advancers, with BlackBerry registering a solid gain for a second day, up 64 cents to $9.15 after CEO John Chen told Bloomberg TV that the smartphone maker plans to re-focus on keyboard-equipped phones.
Chen said the company's phones will "predominantly" have physical keyboards in the future, rather than touch screens.
The energy sector rose as Suncor Energy gained 59 cents to $37.17 while Imperial Oil advanced 64 cents to $46.62.
The consumer discretionary group was up thanks largely to gains in auto parts manufacturers. Magna International improved by $1.98 to $87.43 and Martinrea International climbed 11 cents to $8.09.
March copper was unchanged at $3.36 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector edged up as HudBay Minerals gained 14 cents to $8.60.
Gold stocks gained slightly, as Iamgold took on four cents to $3.76.
In other corporate news, shares in Valeant jumped $15.31, or 12.8%, to $135.30 after the pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that it expects revenue of between $8.2 billion to $8.6 billion for fiscal 2014, an increase of 40%, and cash earnings between $8.25 and $8.75 U.S. per share.
The company also said it will continue to look for a big acquisition or a merger of equals. Health-care stocks proved the champion among subgroups that gained Tuesday.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that Canada's merchandise imports edged up 0.1% while exports were unchanged in November. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with the world went from $908 million in October to $940 million in November.
The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped last month to 46.3, compared to a November figure of 53.7, a December 2012 figure of 52.8, and 63.5 for December 2011.
The PMI asks whether managers’ purchases last month were higher, the same, or lower than the previous month. A figure above 50 shows an increase while below 50 shows a decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.78 points to end Tuesday at 949.83
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were gainers, led by health-care issues, ballooning 5.5%, information technology, ahead 1.5%, and energy, 1.2% more energetic.
The three laggards proved to be global base metals, off only 0.1%, while real-estate sagged a mere 0.04%, and metals and mining stocks, sliding 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors may finally be ready to step back in to the market this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average ran higher by 105.84 points to end trading at 16,530.94, its first triple-digit hike of the year.
The S&P 500 index gained 11.11 points to 1,837.88. The NASDAQ climbed 39.50 points to 4,153.18, in all, the first gains for the markets of New Year 2014.
Despite Tuesday's healthy gains, 2014 has so far been a dud, especially in comparison to 2013. The Dow and S&P 500 ended the year at record highs and the NASDAQ finished at its highest level in over a decade.
On the corporate side, Netflix shares slid following a downgrade from Morgan Stanley.
Also on the tech front, Pandora shares surged for a second day to an all-time high, as investors continued to cheer the company's audience growth in December and a new in-car ad service.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks rose after the security company on Monday announced its acquisition of Morta Security, a cyber-security company.
Shares in Samsung Electronics edged lower after the South Korean tech giant announced its operating profits will take a hit amid increased competition in the smartphone market.
As the market rallied, U.S. stock funds raked in a record $352 billion U.S. last year, breaking the previous record set in 2000, according to TrimTabs data.
Economically speaking, investors were somewhat encouraged following a report that showed that the U.S. international trade gap narrowed in November.
The smaller-than-expected trade deficit bodes well for stronger economic growth for the fourth quarter.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, dropping yields to 2.94% from Monday’s 2.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened 35 cents to $93.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $6.70 to $1,231.30 U.S. an ounce.
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