The Toronto stock market was higher for a third session Tuesday as investors looked past a much worse than expected reading on American consumer confidence for this month and bought up stocks across most sectors
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Tuesday’s session up 129.86 points, or just slightly more than 1%, to 12,634.70
The Canadian dollar declined 0.10 of a cent to 102.24 cents U.S.
The TSX jumped 177 points Monday while the Dow industrials racked up 255 points amid a stronger than expected reading on consumer spending in July and relief that tropic storm Irene didn’t cause even more damage.
But the TSX market is still down about 12.5% from the highs of early March as investors fear the economy recovery has stalled.
The financial sector was up, even as Scotiabank’s quarterly earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Scotiabank’s third-quarter profits rose 18% to $1.29 billion or $1.14 a share, two cents better than analyst expectations. Revenues increased to $4.3 billion from $3.78 billion and its shares climbed $1.18 to $53.53.
Gold soared, most notably Barrick Gold Corp., which was ahead 70 cents to $49.70 and Goldcorp Inc. was ahead 89 cents to $51.19.
The September copper contract in New York gained seven cents to $4.15 U.S. a pound. Among base metal stocks, Teck Resources gained $1.41 to $43.06 while Taseko Mines rose 12 cents to $3.92.
The energy sector rose as oil prices improved despite the weak consumer report. Canadian Natural Resources gained 32 cents to $36.37 while Cenovus Energy improved by 76 cents to $34.64.
Tech stocks were also supportive as Research In Motion Ltd. gained $1.89 to $31.87.
On the economic front, Canada's overall current account deficit widened by $5.3 billion to reach $15.3 billion in the second quarter, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada.
The agency also reported this morning that its Industrial Product Price Index slid 0.3% in July -- largely due to declines in chemical products and motor vehicles, while the Raw Material Price Index fell 1.2%, mineral fuels the major factor there.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sprung 32.90 points to 1,802.76, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 15.26 points to 541.09
In Toronto, health-care was the lone subgroup to book off sick, fading 0.3%.
The other 13 subgroups were feeling more than well, with gold climbing 2.2%, materials 2.1% and information technology strengthening 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, investors were more optimistic Tuesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve's minutes from its most recent meeting indicated that some Fed members favoured more stimulus measures.
Stocks opened slightly lower, only to sink sharply following a weak consumer confidence report.
But the knee-jerk reaction was short-lived, and stocks bounced back into positive territory before settling into a malaise for much of the day... until the Fed minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved ahead 20.7 points by day’s end to 11,560
The S&P 500 found its way into the green by 2.84 points to 1,212.92, while the Nasdaq asserted itself 14 points to 2,576.11. Research in Motion, Baidu and Netflix were among the biggest winners on the tech-heavy index.
Stocks have had a rough month. A downgrade by Standard & Poor's in early August acted as the catalyst for two weeks of wild swings as investors feared the U.S. would tip back into a recession. In fact, August is on track to be worst month for stocks since May 2010.
Financial stocks remained under pressure, with Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase down between 1% and 3%.
Shares of Dollar General rose nearly 6.5%, after the retailer beat second-quarter earnings and sales estimates. The retail company lifted its same-store sales guidance for the remainder of the year. During the second quarter, investing guru Warren Buffett added a $50.8-million U.S. stake in Dollar General.
Shares of Barnes & Noble spiked 13% after the bookseller reported a quarterly loss and sales that fell short of expectations but investors appeared to focus on strong demand for the retailer's Nook tablet.
The Federal Reserve minutes revealed that some committee members advocated another round of Treasury purchases to jumpstart the economy, known as quantitative easing or QE3. Despite a low volume trading day, investors who had been sitting on the sidelines with cash opted to buy in after the minutes were released.
Still equity markets didn't make much headway as fears of another recession muted investors' optimism.
Early Tuesday morning, investors were spooked by a report that showed consumer confidence sunk to its lowest level in more than two years, but the knee-jerk reaction quickly faded.
Economically speaking, home prices rose 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the Case-Shiller 20-city home price index. That was the first quarterly increase in prices in a year.
But home prices are still down 5.9% from a year earlier. Economists were expecting a year-over-year decline of 4.7%.
Early Tuesday, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence fell to a reading of 44.5 in August from 59.2 in July. That's its lowest level since April 2009 and much worse than expected
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose sharply, dropping the yield to 2.18% from Monday’s 2.27%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery added $1.64 to $88.91 U.S. a barrel.
Gold for December delivery rose $41, or 2.3%, to $1,832 U.S. an ounce
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