Stocks in Toronto enjoyed moderate gains soon after the opening bell on Tuesday, as investors digested the country's economic data.
The S&P/TSX composite index was better by 56.12 points to open at 14,488.50
The Canadian dollar was down 0.16 cents to 85.84 cents U.S.
Encana will sell some natural gas gathering and compression facilities in British Columbia it owns jointly with a unit of Mitsubishi Corp to Veresen Midstream LP. Encana shares gained 21 cents to $15.93.
Enbridge said on Monday it was rationing space on its Ozark crude oil pipeline for January, and its Spearhead pipeline for January and February. Enbridge shares took on 47 cents to $58.63 in first-hour trading.
Barclays cut the target price on MEG Energy to $24.00 from $25.00. MEG shares gained a dime to $19.28.
CIBC cut the target price on Northern Blizzard Resources to $17.00 from $19.00. Northern Blizzard gained 50 cents, or 5.8%, to $9.20.
Canaccord Genuity upped the price target on Prometic Life Sciences to $3.00 from $2.50. Prometic shares dropped a penny to $1.99.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada revealed this morning that real gross domestic product grew 0.3% in October, following a 0.4% increase in September. The agency attributes the rise to educational services, mining and oil and gas extraction as well as manufacturing.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.56 points to 667.17
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, with metals and mining stocks heading higher 2.3%, gold up 1.2%, and materials up 1.1%.
The three laggards were health-care, down 1.2%, telecoms, down 0.3%, and utilities, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow hit the 18,000 milestone for the first time ever Tuesday, putting an exclamation point on a stellar year. Not to be outdone, the S&P 500 is also trading at an all-time high. The two indexes are now up nearly 9% and 13% in 2014, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved up 79.55 points to begin at 18,038.99
The S&P 500 gained 3.56 points to 2,082.10, with financials pacing gains and health care the sole laggard among its 10 main sectors.
The NASDAQ index fell 9.40 points to 4,772.02
The market jump came as investors learned that the U.S. economy grew at an incredible 5% in third quarter. It was the strongest quarter of growth since 2003.
The S&P 500 experienced its 50th record finish of the year Monday, while the Dow closed at its 35th record. The Dow only topped 17,000 in early July -- just before the Independence Day long weekend.
Walgreen rose after the drugstore chain reported quarterly earnings that topped estimates; Keurig Green Mountain fell as the coffee recalled 6.6 million of its Mini Plus coffee makers because of a possible burn hazard.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell, raising yields to 2.20% from Monday’s 2.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 64 cents per barrel to $55.90 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $4.50 an ounce at $1,175.30 U.S.
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