The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Tuesday as traders wondered if Italy and other euro-zone countries can manage their high debt levels amid much higher borrowing rates.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 9.49 points by noon at 12,233.68.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.56 cents to 97.83 cents U.S.
The financials sector was the major TSX weight, while Royal Bank fell 52 cents to $45.38 and Manulife Financial gave back 21 cents to $11.79.
Industrial stocks were also lower with Canadian Pacific Railway down 48 cents to $62.12.
Bombardier Aerospace has signed a letter of intent to sell 10 more of its CSeries 300 jetliners. A Turkish airline, Atlasjet Havacilik A.S., plans to purchase 10 of the planes and hold an option for five more. The initial contract is valued at $776 million U.S. and would increase to $1.18 billion if the option for the five planes is exercised. Bombardier shares slipped two cents to $4.36.
The energy sector was off with Canadian Natural Resources down 11 cents to $37.26 while Talisman Energy gained nine cents to $14.39.
In the gold sector, Barrick Gold Corp. ran ahead 18 cents to $53.30 while Iamgold lost 15 cents to $21.62.
And copper prices were unchanged at $3.49 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector was down.
First Quantum Minerals dropped 10 cents to $18.45 while Ivanhoe Mines gained 33 cents to $21.82.
Sears Canada Inc. posted a net loss of $46.6 million in the three months ended Oct. 30, down from a profit of $20.8 million a year ago. Same-store sales fell 7.8% over the same period last year. Sears Canada’s revenue was off 7.1% to $1.11 billion from $1.2 billion and its shares shed five cents to $13.
In other corporate news, TransCanada Corp. said Monday it has reached an agreement with the Nebraska government to change the route of its proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline in order to avoid the ecologically sensitive Sandhills region.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that September new motor vehicles moved higher 1.5% to 134,389 units, with truck sale hikes making up for fewer passenger car sales.
Elsewhere, StatsCan says manufacturing sales rose 2.6% to $49.2 billion in September, the third straight monthly improvement.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped forward 4.59 points to 1,643.11, while the Nasdaq Canada index inched up 6.02 points to 411.72
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups had moved above breakeven by noon. Information technology spiked 1.7%, while health-care stocks traveled 1.1% and global base metals improved 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed by financials, off 0.5%, utilities, down 0.4%, and energy issues were 0.3% lower.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks poked into positive territory Tuesday, as investors weighed a batch of better-than-expected U.S. economic data against ongoing fears about the euro-zone debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrials had accumulated 36.63 points by noon ET to 12,115.61.
The S&P 500 gained 5.04 points to 1,256.82, while the Nasdaq Composite Index moved up 17.97 points to 2,675.19.
Wal-Mart reported a 1.3% increase in third-quarter same-store sales Tuesday, but posted earnings per share that missed expectations by a penny. Shares of the retail giant dipped.
Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods jumped after the retailer reported stronger earnings than analysts had been expecting, and said same-store sales rose 4.1% for the quarter.
Staples cut its full-year earnings forecast, and posted quarterly results that fell short of expectations. Shares of the company slipped.
European bond yields climbed, following a report indicating that euro-zone economic growth was tepid in the third quarter.
Italy's 10-year bond yield topped 7%, a benchmark that makes traders nervous -- such levels eventually led to bailouts for Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Meanwhile, the 10-year bond yield for Spain, one of several troubled economies in Europe, ticked up to 6.3%.
Economically speaking, retail sales rose 0.5% in October, boosted by strength in electronics and home improvement, the U.S. government said Tuesday. The increase beat expectations of a 0.4% rise, but was lower than the 1.1% gain in the previous month.
A separate government report showed that producer prices slipped 0.3% in October, following a 0.8% rise in September. Analysts polled by Briefing.com expected producer prices to have dropped by 0.2%.
The price on the 10-year Treasury moved higher, driving the yield down to 2.02% from the 2.04% figure Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery regained 70 cents to $98.84 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery added $2.27 to $1,780.67 an ounce.
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