The TSX poked cautiously above breakeven at the close of business Tuesday, after further reducing earlier losses on the back of a rebound in material and utility stocks
The S&P/TSX composite index eked up 1.99 points to close Tuesday at 15,346.07
The Canadian dollar gained 0.36 cents to 83.08 cents U.S.
Gold stocks led the parade Tuesday, as Agnico Eagle Mines leaped $2.10, or 5.8%, to $38.51, and Lake Shore Gold triumphed six cents, or 5.6%, to $1.14.
Global base metals were also stronger, as Capstone Mining screamed higher 10 cents, or 6.8%, to $1.58.
Financials edged up as IGM Financial improved 95 cents, or 2.1%, to $45.93, and TMX Group, which owns the stock exchange, hiked $1.26, or 2.4%, to $54.02.
Energy shares were the worst off, as Canadian Energy Services lost 24 cents, or 4%, to $5.71.
Industrials were also down on the day, as Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers slid 43 cents, or 1.4%, to $30.20.
Turquoise Hill Resources was the most actively traded stock, down a penny at $5.08, on 6.5 million shares.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.14 points to 695.24
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day, as gold shone 3.1% brighter, materials were 1.4% stronger, and global base metals were 0.9% more solid.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, skidding 0.8%, while industrials and health-care each lost 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as investors eyed tech earnings and awaited the Federal Reserve's statement on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials surged 72.17 points Tuesday to 18,110.14
The S&P 500 index gained 5.88 points to 2,114.80,
The NASDAQ index slid 4.82 points to 5,055.42.
Twitter had its second-worst day, with shares closing down 18.2%. In the last 15 minutes before the close, shares resumed trading about 20% lower. The company was scheduled to report after the bell but released its earnings early, after shares were halted following a 5.5% plunge on online reports that earnings may have leaked.
The social media company reported a beat on earnings but a miss on revenue, as well as lower 2015 full-year expectations. Guidance on second-quarter revenue was about $100 million U.S .lower than estimates.
Apple closed down 1.6% as the worst performing blue chip. Earlier, the stock briefly gained to touch a new all-time high above $133.60 U.S. a share as the tech giant carried over momentum from Monday's earnings report.
The company reported quarterly earnings per share of $2.33 U.S. on revenue of $56.08 billion U.S., both above consensus estimates.
Apple also said it would expand its capital return program to $200 billion from $130 billion U.S.
Apple closed up 1.8% on Monday ahead of its earnings report. However, a major decline across biotechs weighed on the major indices, which failed to hold Friday's records and closed lower on Monday.
Merck surged more than 5%, on track for its best day since January 2014, to lead gains in the Dow. The firm beat Wall Street's estimates after posting adjusted quarterly profits of 85 cents U.S. per share on revenue of $9.4 billion U.S, sending the stock up more than 4.5% in pre-market trading.
Analysts expected the company to report earnings per share of 75 cents U.S. on revenue of $9.1 billion U.S.
Earnings reports from Samsung Electronics, Kraft Foods, GoPro, Buffalo Wild Wings are all due after the bell.
Senior U.S. defense officials told the media that Iranian Revolutionary guard forces seized a cargo ship, flagged to the Marshall Islands.
According to the officials, the revolutionary forces boarded the vessel in international waters off the coast of Iran and may be taking it to an Iranian port.
The Maersk Tigris, which had no U.S. citizens abroad, was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf when the incident occurred, a Pentagon spokesman told reporters.
The Fed meeting got underway Tuesday, with the conclusion and post-meeting statement due Wednesday. A wave of disappointing domestic data since the previous FOMC meeting has spurred economists to downgrade their outlooks for the U.S. economy in 2015.
Investors will be eyeing any comments from the Fed for hints as to when it might hike interest rates.
To be sure, with no press conference on Wednesday, analysts do not expect major news out of the U.S. central bank this week.
The Conference Board consumer confidence survey results for April was 95.2, below expectations of a rise.
The S&P/Case-Shiller's 20-City Composite gained 5% year-over-year in February, compared with a 4.5% increase in January.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped sharply, raising yields to 2% from Monday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell a penny to $56.95 U.S.
Gold prices gained $8.40 to $1,211.60 U.S.
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