Toronto stocks held on to gains Tuesday afternoon, with financials advancing along with base metal miners and technology stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 77.37 points to 12,044.54.
Meanwhile, the energy sector witnessed a mixed trend amid choppy oil prices.
The Financials Index gained, with BMO up 66 cents to $62.22 and Scotiabank up 77 cents to $51.47
Base metal stocks have been trading with solid gains since morning, following the announcement of a $1.54-billion merger deal between Quadra Mining Ltd. and FNX Mining Company Inc.
FNX Mining added 24 cents to $15.09 while shares of the latter eased 43 cents to $16.95. Hudbay Minerals Inc. rose 53 cents to $13.80. Teck Resources Ltd. gained 95 cents to $41.49.
Among energy stocks, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. inched up seven cents to $72.63 and Nexen Inc. gave in eight cents to $24.15, while Encana Corp. rose 38 cents to $31.48.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said the country's leading indicators rose 0.8% in February after a 0.7% advance in January. Economists were expecting the leading composite index to rise 0.9%. The growth was largely led by household demand, with the housing index accelerating to 1.7% growth.
The Canadian dollar took more steps toward parity with its American cousin, gaining 0.32 cents to 98.45 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were positive on the day. Metals and mining stocks charged ahead 2.3%, followed by global base metals, up 2.2%, and information technology, gaining 1.5%.
Only gold’s 0.2% slide put a damper on the party.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.77 points to 1,561.36. The Nasdaq Canada index gained 14.25 points to 809.10.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rallied Tuesday, with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 hitting new 18-month highs following the release of a better-than-expected existing home sales report.
The Dow Jones industrial average hurtled forward 102.94 points to finish at 10,888.83.
The S&P 500 index was up 8.36 points to 1,174.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq marched 19.84 points to 2,415.24.
Stocks initially struggled out of the gate Tuesday but turned higher following the release of the housing report, which showed existing home sales fell in February from January levels, but still topped estimates.
The report was consistent with other recent readings that show the economy is improving, but at a slow pace. Investors are looking for signs of increased growth in the aftermath of a rally that pushed the Dow 65% off its lows of a year ago to 2010 highs hit on Monday. In that same period, the S&P 500 has gained 72% and the Nasdaq has gained 89%.
Stocks have steadily drifted higher over the last month or so after sliding between mid-January and early February.
On Tuesday, President Obama signed into law a health care bill that will extend coverage to 32 million more people, require all Americans to have coverage and will prevent companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
Stocks rallied Monday after Congressional approval of the bill removed the uncertainty that has surrounded its passage for months.
After Monday's close, the Senate Banking Committee approved a regulatory reform bill put forth by Sen. Christopher Dodd, passing it on to the full Senate for the vote.
KB Home reported a narrower quarterly loss versus a year earlier that was nonetheless weaker than analysts' estimates, with lower revenue that also missed expectations. The U.S. homebuilder said prices and demand for its houses fell in the first quarter. Shares slipped 3% Tuesday.
Economically speaking, existing home sales fell to a 5.02-million-unit rate in February from a 5.05-million-unit rate in January, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Tuesday morning. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought sales would fall to a five-million-unit rate.
The continued weakness in the housing market has been one of the main worries for investors as they look for signs this year that the economic recovery has some durability. While the report showed weakness from the previous month, it still managed to beat forecasts, providing a bit of support for stocks Tuesday.
The price of the benchmark 10-year note sagged, lifting yields to 3.68% from Monday’s 3.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil picked up 32 cents to $81.92 U.S.
Gold prices moved up six dollars to $1,106 U.S.
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