Equities in Toronto opened higher on Tuesday as oil prices rose following strong Chinese import data, while consumer prices in the United States spiked, signaling a faster economic growth.
The TSX recovered 32.53 points to open for business Tuesday at 19,233.81.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.01 cents at 79.59 cents U.S.
Air Canada, struggling with a collapse in traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reached a deal on Monday on a long-awaited aid package with the federal government that would allow it to access up to $5.9 billion in funds.
Shares in "The Maple Leaf Airline," began the trading day down 67 cents, or 2.5%, to $26.33.
CIBC cut the rating on Acadian Timber to underperformer from neutral. Acadian shares gave back 62 cents, or 3.1%, to $19.36.
Scotiabank raised the Premium Brands Holdings price target to $137.00 from $135.00. Premium shares faded 19 cents to $119.74.
CIBC raised the target price on Toromont Industries to $100.00 from $95.00. Toromont shares dropped 33 cents to $97.13.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 1.54 points to 948.17.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground at Tuesday’s open, with industrials down 0.8%, financials losing 0.4%, and energy off 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by gold, ahead 1.9%, materials, adding 1.2%, and information technology, up 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed on Tuesday after a March inflation report turned out not as bad as some traders feared, but the impact of a halt to the rollout of Johnson & Johnson vaccine kept optimism in check.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 126.81 points to 33,618.59, to reach a new intraday record high.
The S&P 500 regained 5.5 points to 4,133.49
The NASDAQ Composite jumped, though, 111.13 points to 13,961.13, as Apple, Amazon and Netflix all gained at least 1%.
Corporate news is set to pick up later in the week, with JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Delta Air Lines among the companies set to report quarterly results.
Re-opening trades remained under pressure after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it’s recommending a pause in the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after reported cases of blood clotting.
There have been six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot after receiving the J&J vaccine, the FDA said. The administration is calling for a pause in the vaccine until Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concludes its investigation into these cases.
Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said later Tuesday that she expects the pause to last “a matter of days.” More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S. J&J shares fell 2.4%.
Still, shares of companies that would be hurt the most if the vaccine rollout slows came under pressure Tuesday morning.
Carnival Corp shares pulled back 3.2% and American Airlines lost 4.9%. Shares of Moderna, which makes another coronavirus vaccine, jumped 7.7% following the J&J news, which was reported first by The New York Times.
The consumer price index, one of Wall Street’s most-popular inflation gauges, rose 0.6% in March and increased 2.6% from the same period a year ago. Economists polled by Dow Jones were projecting the headline index to rise by 0.5% month over month and 2.5% year over year.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, dropping yields to 1.66% from Monday’s 1.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired 53 cents to $60.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold picked up $9.90 to $1,742.60 U.S. an ounce.
