Stocks weaved toward and away from the flatline Tuesday, as energy’s rumble overcame weakness in health-care issues.
The TSX Composite Index stayed in positive territory till the close, gaining 18.84 points to 17,075.20
The Canadian dollar nicked up 0.02 cents at 75.98 cents U.S.
Still, health-care took a pounding, with Aurora Cannabis slipped 25 cents, or 7.6%, to $3.06, while HEXO slumped a dime, or 3.5%, to $2.75.
Among communications, BCE backtracked $1.38, or 2.2%, to $61.85, while Cogeco Communications sagged $2.09, or 1.8%, to $61.85.
In utilities, Transalta Corporation slid 29 cents, or 3.2%, to $8.85, while Boralex dropped 72 cents, or 2.9%, to $24.52.
Energy shares did their bit to pick things up, with Whitecap Resources gaining 26 cents, or 5.3%, to $5.15, and Parex Resources progressing $1.19, or 5.7%, to $22.06.
Industrials advanced, with Mullen Group collected 39 cents, or 4.5%, to $9.03, while Transcontinental gathered 47 cents, or 3.1%, to $15.66.
In financials, TMX Group – which owns the Toronto Stock Exchange – added $1.59 or 1.4%, to $113.40, while Alaris Royalty gained 22 cents, or 1%, to $22.33.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada manufacturing sales declined 0.7% to $57.1 billion in October, the second consecutive monthly decrease.
The agency said lower sales in the transportation equipment and fabricated metal product industries were partly offset by higher sales in the petroleum and coal product industry.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange notched higher 1.94 points to 543.55
Seven of the 12 subgroups pointed downward, with health-care slumping 1.7%, while communications skidded 0.8%, and utilities faded 0.7%.
The five gainers were headed by energy, ahead 1.6%, industrials, ahead 0.5%, and financials, better by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
All three major U.S. indexes progressed toward all-time highs on Tuesday
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 31.27 points, to 28,267.16
The S&P 500 added 1.07 points to 3,192.52, to post its longest winning streak since November.
The NASDAQ chugged higher 9.13 points to 8,823.36
Netflix jumped more than 3% after the streaming giant disclosed strong membership growth numbers in key regions, including Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Johnson & Johnson climbed 1.3% after a Morgan Stanley analyst upgraded the stock, noting many of the company’s structural issues "have been addressed." Shares of Apple closed 0.2% higher and hit a fresh record high.
The S&P 500 came into Tuesday’s session up 27.3% year to date, its biggest annual gain since 2013. The Dow acquired 21% and the NASDAQ was up 32.8%.
On the data front, U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in November as building permits surged to a 12½-year high.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury were static, keeping yields at Monday’s 1.88%.
Oil prices added 45 cents to $60.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved forward 40 cents at $1,480.90 U.S. an ounce.
