Equities in Canada’s largest market hiked on Tuesday as gold miners and other materials stocks gained on higher commodity prices, while media giant Rogers Communications sank after posting a smaller profit.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index surged 86.75 points to pause for noon hour at 13,806.57
The Canadian dollar leaped 0.83 cents to 79.04 cents U.S.
Rogers fell 1.3% to $49.53 after reporting a slip in earnings after the bell on Monday as it spent heavily to get smartphones to its wireless customers and could not add enough Internet business to offset television and landline phone shrinkage.
Silver Wheaton jumped 5.9% to $22.94 as silver prices surged to a 10-month high, while the broader materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength.
Barrick Gold added 1.1% to $20.48 and Goldcorp rose 1.4% to $21.84.
Adding to the positive sentiment, Barclays raised its target prices for a range of Canadian materials issues.
First Quantum Minerals advanced 6.2% to $8.10 and Teck Resources gained 2.1% to $12.56.
The energy sector gained, with oil prices rising as a strike by oil workers in Kuwait nearly halved crude production from the OPEC member.
The country's heavyweight banks also ranked among the index's most influential gainers, with Royal Bank of Canada adding 0.5% to $78.15, Toronto-Dominion Bank advancing 0.7% to $55.66 and Bank of Nova Scotia rising 0.5% to $63.99.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange continued on the march, adding 8.37 points to 646.71
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups strengthened, with metals and mining solidifying 6.5%, materials up 2.9%, and gold up 2.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by telecoms, down 1%, health-care, sliding 0.7%, and information technology, dipping 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed Tuesday, amid a rise in oil prices, as declines in tech stocks weighed after major earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrials was off its highs of the morning, but still positive 6.06 points to 18,010.22, after yesterday’s 100-point-plus gain. In mid-morning Tuesday trade, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth contributed the most to gains in the Dow, while IBM dragged about 60 points off the index.
The S&P 500 gained 1.35 points to 2,095.68, after briefly topping the 2,100 level in intraday trade for the first time since December 2, 2015. Materials rose more than 1.5% to lead advancers, followed by energy and financials.
The NASDAQ index tumbled 35.59 points to 4,924.43, as shares of Illumina fell more than 24% and Netflix traded more than 10.5% lower.
FBR rated the newly formed Liberty Media tracking stocks Liberty SiriusXM, Liberty Media as outperform, noting both stocks are trading a "meaningful discounts" to their "sum-of-the-parts" values. Shares held about 6% higher in mid-morning trade.
Goldman Sachs reported first-quarter earnings that topped lowered Wall Street expectations, but marked a fourth-straight quarter of profit declines as market volatility hit the company's bond trading and investment banking businesses. Revenue plunged about 40% from the year-ago period and missed estimates.
After the close Monday, IBM posted results that beat on both the top and bottom line. However, revenue continued to fall and “Big Blue” did not raise its full-year guidance.
Netflix also disappointed with lower-than-expected subscriber growth for the second quarter.
Intel and Yahoo are scheduled to report on Tuesday. Early morning reports included Johnson & Johnson, which posted quarterly earnings that beat, while revenue matched forecasts. The firm raised its full-year forecast.
UnitedHealth reported earnings that beat on both the top and bottom line, and raised its full-year forecast.
U.S. economic news featured housing starts, which fell a more-than-expected 8.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.09 million units, the lowest level since October, according to the Commerce Department.
Moreover, building permits dropped 7.7% to a 1.09-million-unit rate last month, the lowest level since March last year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, driving yields up to 1.79% from Monday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices climbed $1.52 a barrel to $41.30 U.S.
Gold prices vaulted $22.31 to $1,254.80 U.S. an ounce.
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