Equities in Toronto found some upward momentum by midday Tuesday, as renewed strength in tech and energy stocks overcame losses in resource and health-care concerns.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index poked ahead 8.48 points to greet noon Tuesday at 16,356.46
The Canadian dollar nicked up 0.01 cents at 80.31 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included First Quantum Minerals, which was down 3.6% to $18.35, and Teck Resources off 3.6% at $34.95.
Both companies produce copper, which fell to the lowest in a month after inventories surged, while First Quantum also was hit by a downgrade to neutral from Credit Suisse.
Copper prices declined 2% to $6,924.50 U.S. a tonne.
Pretium Resources slumped 18.9% to $10.88 after the gold exploration company provided an operational update for its Brucejack mine in northern British Columbia and Credit Suisse downgraded the stock.
On the upside, BlackBerry advanced 23 cents, or 1.4%, to $16.78. Among energy issues, Imperial Oil gained 61 cents, or 1.5%, to $40.61.
Suncor Energy sprang up 52 cents, or 1.1%, to $46.91.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.24 points to 899.82
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups had moved higher by noon, led by information technology, up 0.9%, energy, 0.8% more energetic, and consumer discretionaries, 0.5% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.1%, while materials and telecoms each sank 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite traded at a record high on Tuesday after Netflix shares surged on stronger-than-expected subscriber growth.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained in the red 23.26 points from Monday’s record high to move into noon hour at 26,191.34, as the corporate earnings season continued.
The S&P 500 improved 3.8 points to 2,836.77
The tech-heavy NASDAQ added 39.97 points to 7,448. The video streaming giant said Monday after the close that total net adds reached 8.33 million, well above a StreetAccount estimate of 6.39 million. Netflix's stock surged 11.1%, lifting the company's market cap above $100 billion for the first time.
Equities are off to a strong start for the year, with the three major indexes rising at least 6% in January. Stocks are building on the strong gains made in 2017.
Dow components Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Travelers Cos. all reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue on Tuesday. Verizon, another Dow component, posted a profit that missed expectations, while sales surpassed analyst estimates.
The calendar fourth-quarter earnings season is off to a good start. As of Tuesday, 72% of the S&P 500 companies that had reported surpassed earnings expectations, while 80% of those companies had beaten sales projections.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note jumped, lowering yields to 2.62% from Monday’s 2.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 88 cents a barrel to $64.45 U.S.
Gold prices advanced $4.80 to $1,336.70 U.S. an ounce.
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