Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, led by gains in energy and information technology stocks, while investors looked forward to U.S. inflation data and the Bank of Canada's (BoC) verdict on monetary policy on Wednesday.
The TSX retailed gains of 21.98 points by midday Tuesday at 19,844.43.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.01 cents to 75.38 cents U.S.
The BoC's policy meeting will be on the radar as the central bank is widely expected to deliver another 25-basis-point hike on Wednesday after data last week hinted at a robust jobs market.
J.P. Morgan now expects the BoC to hike its lending rate by 25 bps to 5% on Wednesday, while Bank of America expected the central bank to hold rates steady.
Shares of TransAlta Corp eked higher seven cents to $12.30, after the Canadian electric utility firm said it will buy the rest of the stake it does not own in TransAlta Renewables Inc, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.38 billion. TransAlta Renewables stock, for its part, zoomed $1.99, or 18.1%, to $12.98.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.65 points by lunch Tuesday at 619.48.
Seven of 12 TSX subgroups gained ground as morning became afternoon, with health-care soaring 1.4%, energy rumbling 1.1%, and gold brighter by 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by industrials and consumer discretionary shares, each down 0.5%, while consumer staples lost 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, after the major averages snapped a three-day decline, as traders awaited key inflation data slated for release later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials ballooned 150.69 points to break for lunch at 34,095.09.
The S&P 500 gained 8.89 points to 4,148.42.
The NASDAQ index forged ahead 4.45 points to 13,689.93.
Etsy jumped $7.53, or 8.8%, to $93.36, making it one of the best-performing stocks in the broad market index. Meanwhile, Salesforce’s stock rose 4% after the company announced it would increase price across the board in August.
The June consumer price index report set for release Wednesday, as well as the June producer price index due out Thursday, will shed light on whether the decline in inflation has continued, and create the backdrop for future direction of interest rates.
Investors have penciled in another quarter-point increase at the Federal Reserve’s July 25-26 meeting. But they are undecided about what the central bank will do at its September meeting after last week’s continued robust jobs data raised concern that policymakers will revert to raising rates following the June pause.
Second-quarter earnings season kicks off later this week with results from “systemically important financial institutions” such as JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, plus BlackRock, PepsiCo and Delta Air. Dow component UnitedHealth reports Friday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were up a bit, lowering yields to 3.99% from Monday’s 4.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on $1.65 to $74.64 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $6.30 to $1,937.30 U.S. an ounce.
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