Mining stocks pushed the Toronto stock market slightly higher midday Tuesday amid rising metal prices while traders awaited the latest U.S. data on new home sales and consumer confidence.
The S&P/TSX composite index approached noon up 7.24 points higher at 14,285.79, off its highs of the morning.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 cents at 89.48 cents U.S.
Commodities advanced as May copper was up five cents to $2.99 U.S. a pound and the TSX base metals sector improved, partly on the strength of Teck Resources, whose shares advanced 89 cents to $24.31 .
The gold sector climbed, though Barrick Gold eased in price 12 cents to $20.63.
The energy sector edged slightly lower. Imperial Oil eked up two cents to $51.20.
On the corporate front, Air Canada Rouge is launching service from Vancouver and Calgary to destinations in the United States this spring as the national carrier converts flights to its lower cost subsidiary.
It will also take on service between Toronto to San Diego and Phoenix. Air Canada shares rose nine cents to $5.79.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell back 0.99 points to 1,018.15
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, with the metals and mining sector up 2.7%, while global base metals jumped 1.6%, and materials prospered 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by consumer staples and telecoms, each down 0.5% and consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
After a big selloff in tech stocks on Monday, investors dove back in today, encouraged by some better than expected news on consumer confidence and earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained 46.92 points to 16,323.61. The S&P 500 index was up 2.34 points to 1,859.78. The NASDAQ reverted into the red 12.49 points to 4,213.90
Stocks like Cisco, Amazon and eBay that were down on Monday were all attracting buyers this morning, although Netflix was still falling after a more than 6% rout yesterday.
In corporate news, Walgreen Co. shares are gaining even though the drugstore chain said that it will close 76 stores. Walgreen's also said earnings fell slightly from a year ago, but the company had positive things to say about its joint venture with European drugstore chain Alliance Boots.
Shares of Walt Disney were up after it said it would buy Maker Studios, a leading producer and distributor of videos on YouTube.
Its vast array of online channels totals 5.5 billion YouTube views per month, according to Maker, making it one of the most successful online video companies of its kind.
Another standout today is Sonic, which is up after the drive-in restaurant operator reported earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations.
Carnival shares fell after the cruise company reported a first quarter loss and had a disappointing outlook for the second quarter.
Economic news continues to be mixed. U.S. home prices slipped 0.1% in January reflecting the frigid winter. It was the third month that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index declined. But year over year, the index is up 13.2%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries slumped, raising yields to 2.74% from Monday’s 2.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices reacquired 34 cents to $99.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $1.20 to $1,312.40 U.S. an ounce.
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