Canada's main stock index recovered from some early staggers Tuesday, powered by the energy sector, as markets were awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision due later in the week.
The TSX regained 17.84 points to reach noon Tuesday at 19,188.40.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.02 cents to 80.65 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was real estate firm FirstService Corp, which jumped $3.77, or 1.8%, to $214.33, after upbeat first-quarter results.
First Quantum Minerals followed with a 93-cent, 3.1%, gain to $30.60, after BMO raised its price target on the stock.
Plant-based food manufacturer Sunopta fell 28 cents, or 1.8%, to $15.30, while AcuityAds Holdings recovered from early losses and made its way forward a cent to $14.11.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 3.44 points to 946.83.
The 12 TSX subgroups was evenly split between gaining subgroups and losing ones, as energy picked up 0.9%, real-estate was stronger by 0.5%, and financials were richer by 0.2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care slipped 0.8%, while gold lost 0.7%, and communications were on the down side 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 hovered near its record levels on Tuesday as investors braced for a big batch of tech earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed lower 8.36 points to 33,973.21,
The S&P 500 inched upward 0.6 points to 4,188.21, slightly above Monday’s record close.
The NASDAQ Composite declined 27.28 points to 14,111.50, from Monday’s record close.
Shares of Tesla fell 3% even after the electric carmaker posted record net income of $438 million. Tesla also beat Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations handily, boosted by sales of bitcoin and regulatory credits. The shares have struggled this year, off by more than 18% from their record. Though the stock is still up 360% over the last 12 months.
UPS shares soared over 10% after earnings blew past Wall Street estimates. The company said first-quarter revenue was up 27%.
The first-quarter earnings season kicks into high gear on Tuesday with key tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft and AMD reporting after the bell.
So far, with about a third of the S&P 500 having reported numbers, 84% of companies have turned in a positive earnings surprise, according to FactSet. However, stock moves have been relatively muted following the strong results with the market standing at record levels with high valuations.
GameStop’s stock jumped more than 6% after the video game retailer said it sold 3.5 million additional shares, raising $551 million to speed up the company’s e-commerce transformation.
Apple and Facebook earnings follow on Wednesday after the bell.
The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is not expected to take any action, but economists expect it to defend its policy to let inflation run hot.
The latest surveys see the central bank staying on hold and keeping its asset buying program in place at the same levels for the rest of 2021, despite growing concerns about an overheating economy.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were lower, raising yields to 1.60% from Monday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 48 cents to $62.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $1.30 to $1,778.80 U.S. an ounce.
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