Stocks in Toronto suffered a post-holiday hangover on Tuesday, albeit in light trading, as metals and mining stocks were bruised along with their counterparts in the gold field.
The S&P/TSX composite index retreated 64.05 points to close Tuesday at 13,245.75. The market rose 2.2% during an abbreviated week last week.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.4 cents to 72.32 cents U.S.
Among metals concerns, First Quantum Minerals was pasted nearly 5% to $5.52, while rival Teck Resources moved downward 3.7% to $5.41.
Gold stocks were hit hard as well, with St. Andrew Goldfields sliding 2.3% to 43 cents, while Barrick Gold dropped 3.3% in price to $10.49, and Goldcorp faded 3.9% to $16.23.
On the other side, information technology stocks prospered, with BlackBerry climbing 2.4% to $12.91.
Consumer staples also proved strong with grocery chain Metro Inc. moving up 1.4% to $39.91.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.37 points to 518.20
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were down, weighed most by metals and mining, down 3.4%, gold, down 3.3%, and materials, off 2.6%
The half-dozen gainers were led by information technology, better by 1.3%, while consumer staples gained 1.1%, and telecoms surged 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed more than 1% higher in light volume trade Tuesday, as the tech sector led broad gains amid some stabilization in oil and commodity prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average spiked 192.71 points, or 1.1%, to 17,720.98. Boeing, Apple and IBM were the top contributors to gains as nearly all Dow components advanced.
The S&P 500 gained 21.86 points, or 1.1%, to 2,078.36, climbing back into positive territory for 2015 as information technology gained about 1.3% to lead all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ index hiked 66.95 points, or 1.3%, to 5,107.94. Amazon held about 3% higher in afternoon trade to hit a fresh all-time high. The stock is up more than 120% year-to-date.
Microsoft and both share classes of Alphabet, Google's holding company, also rose to hit new 52-week highs.
Shares of Qualcomm temporarily gained 3% amid news the chipmaker entered new license agreements with two Chinese firms.
In economic news, home values in October were 5.2% higher year-over-year, greater than the 4.9% annual gain in September, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index that covers all nine U.S. census divisions.
Consumer confidence for December came in at 96.5, topping expectations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slid, raising yields to 2.30% from Monday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.01 a barrel to $37.82 U.S.
Gold prices dipped 63 cents to $1,068.45 U.S. an ounce.
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