The Toronto stock market gained ground Tuesday while oil prices continued to slide and traders speculate about what the U.S. Federal Reserve may have to say about the pace of interest rate hikes.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved higher 35.77 points, after spending most of the day in negative country, to close at 14,898.53
The Canadian dollar inched down 0.03 cents to 78.25 cents U.S.
Among gold stocks, Goldcorp retreated 67 cents, or 2.8%, to $23.49
The base metals sector fell as May copper fell five cents to $2.62 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources dipped five cents to $17.27.
The TSX energy sector edged up, even as supply issues continued to drive the price of crude closer to the $40 a barrel mark. Imperial Oil prospered 55 cents to $47.43.
On the corporate front, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the operator of Mac's, Couche-Tard and Circle K convenience stores and fuel stations has a deal to acquire Shell's retail, commercial fuels and aviation businesses in Denmark for an undisclosed sum. Its shares bolted ahead $1.11, or 2.3%, to $49.24.
Bombardier Inc. shares lost a penny to $2.48 as the transport giant signed a letter of intent to sell 20 of its CS100 aircraft to a Malaysian carrier Fly Mojo. A firm order would be worth $1.47 billion U.S., but could grow to $2.94 billion if options for an additional 20 CS100 planes are picked up. Bombardier now has booked orders and commitments for 603 of its CSeries aircraft, Bombardier's new series of jetliners.
Printing and publishing company Transcontinental Inc. is raising its dividend rate by 6% to 17 cents a share. The company also said that its quarterly adjusted earnings rose 36.7% to $36.1 million, or 46 cents per share.
Net income more than doubled to $37.9 million or 49 cents per share. Revenue grew 1.1% to $504.6 million. Analysts had estimated 38 cents per share of earnings and $515.78 million of revenue and its shares climbed 92 cents, or 5.6%, to $17.50.
Investors hope that the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that got underway on Tuesday would help shed light on when the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in this country fell 1.7% in January due mostly to a price-induced decline of 11.9% in sales of petroleum and coal products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 4.61 points to 659.23
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups moved higher by day’s end, led by energy, stronger by 1%, consumer staples, improving 0.9%, and real-estate, 0.7% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 1.3%, materials, down 0.7%, and health-care, sagging 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Tuesday as investors focused on the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting, which could shed light on the timing of an interest rate hike.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 128.41 points to 17,849.01. DuPont and Caterpillar were among the greatest laggards, with Coca-Cola leading four advancers.
The S&P 500 slid 6.99 points to 2,074.20, with materials leading nine sectors lower and information technology the only sector in the green.
The NASDAQ index recovered 7.93 points, however, to 4,937.44
MGM Resorts International surged more than 10% on news shareholder Land and Buildings sees a 70% upside to the casino operator's net asset value if the firm creates a REIT and spins off hotels, a release said. Land and Buildings also said it plans to nominate four directors to MGM's board.
DSW beat estimates by seven cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 35 cents U.S. per share, with sales easily beating estimates. DSW saw comparable store sales rise 7.6%, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to 20 cents U.S. per share from 18.75 cents per share.
Burlington Stores reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.43 U.S. per share, 11 cents above estimates, with revenue also exceeding forecasts. Burlington saw comparable store sales rise 6.7% from a year earlier.
Alibaba was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to buy from hold and added to the Stifel "Select List." Stifel cites long-term benefits from improvements to the online retailer's platform, and notes its multiples compare favorably to those of competitor Amazon.com.
EBay has launched a live auction platform for Sotheby's, with the first sale scheduled for April 1.
American Airlines was named to replace Allergan in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on March 20. Allergan is in the process of being purchased by Actavis.
Last week, Skyworks Solutions replaced PetSmart in the index on BC Partner's acquisition of the pet supplies retailer.
Apple is scheduled to replace AT&T in the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday after the bell, as Visa implements a four-for-one stock split.
Housing starts fell 17% in February to the lowest level in a year as harsh winter weather took its toll. More encouragingly, building permits rose 3% and January housing starts were revised slightly higher to 1.08 million.
The FOMC meeting kicks off Tuesday, with its highly anticipated statement and press conference expected on Wednesday afternoon.
Investors are looking at whether or not "patient" remains in the statement as an indication of when short-term interest rates might go up.
The U.S. dollar continued to ease, falling more than 1% in early trade, while the euro edged above $1.06.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.06% from Monday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices went lower 71 cents to $43.17 U.S.
Gold prices gained $1.60 to $1,148.10 U.S.
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