Stocks enjoyed a higher opening for Canada's main index on Tuesday on optimism surrounding corporate earnings and merger moves.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 40.93 points to begin Tuesday’s session at 14,571.84
The Canadian dollar gained 0.54 cents at 91.22 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy said on Monday its first-quarter profit rose 36% on strong oil prices and a lower Canadian dollar. Suncor shares were boosted $1.52, or 3.7%, to $42.86.
Canada imposed sanctions on Monday on two small Russian banks and nine individuals.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board plans to vote against Barrick Gold Corp's new executive compensation plan, the investment management group said in a proxy voting notice on its website Monday. Barrick shares took on three cents to $19.15.
CIBC raised the rating on Aurico Gold to sector outperform from sector performer. Aurico shares were unchanged early Tuesday at $5.48.
Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on Gluskin Sheff + Associates to hold from buy. Gluskin shares acquired seven cents to $33.70.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 6.55 points to 1,003.03
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower early Tuesday, with industrials down 0.9%, with health-care and gold each down 0.5%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by energy, adding 1.6%, with real-estate issues up 0.3%, and consumer discretionaries ahead 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks kicked off the session in the green, leaving the market on track for a seventh straight Tuesday gain as investors look ahead to a pivotal Federal Reserve decision.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 56.57 points to 16,505.31
The S&P 500 gained 4.69 points to 1,874.12, and the NASDAQ composite index gained 5.49 to 4,079.89.
April has been a tough month for investors, with the NASDAQ taking a sharp dive as investors soured on many tech and bio tech stocks. The S&P and Dow are up for the month, but only barely.
Attention is beginning to shift towards the Fed, which is set to wrap up a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The central bank is likely to dial back its bond buying program by another $10 billion U.S. in a bid to wean Wall Street off its easy money policies.
Meanwhile corporate earnings reports continue to roll in. Sprint popped 2% as investors cheered a narrower than expected loss and strong sales.
Share of BP nudged 2% higher after the oil and gas firm hiked its dividend.
RetailerCoach dropped 8% after the company missed sales forecast, even as it beat on profits.
Herbalife struggled to find a post-earnings bounce despite logging stronger than expected profits and sale and announcing plans to scrap its dividend in favor of more stock buybacks. The company is the subject of several government investigations into its business practices.
EBay and Twitter are among the major companies that will share results after today's close. Twitter struggled yesterday in trading, ending the day down.
Aside from earnings, shares of Nokia rose 5% after the tech company announced a new CEO and plans to spend billions on dividends and share buybacks. Nokia has just finalized the sale of its handset division to Microsoft, allowing it to focus on its networks business.
Inflight Internet provider Gogo tumbled almost 20% after AT&T revealed plans to launch a competing service.
Housing stocks such as Lennar were little changed after the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index of U.S. home prices was unchanged in February, matching forecasts. Prices climbed 12.9% year-over-year, nearly mirroring estimates.
The Conference Board will publish its consumer confidence index later this morning.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 2.72% from Monday’s 2.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.27 to $102.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained 60 cents at $1,299.60 U.S. an ounce.
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