Stocks in Toronto did their best Tuesday to keep the wheels rolling, mostly on the strength of health-care and energy concerns.
The S&P/TSX Composite built upon earlier gains and jumped 110.64 points to move closer to noon hour Tuesday at 21,208.93.
The Canadian dollar inched ahead 0.21 cents at 78.85 cents U.S.
Pot stocks carried the morning, with Aurora Cannabis flying 42 cents, or 7.7%, to $5.72, while Canopy Growth hiking 63 cents, or 6.2%, to $10.85.
In energy, Baytex acquired 22 cents, or 4.7%, to $4.94, while Vermilion Energy took on 68 cents or 3.4%, to $20.46.
Utilities didn’t have as good a time of it, though, with Emera trailing 77 cents, or 1.3%, to $59.46, while Algonquin Power and Utilities slipping 20 cents, or 1.1%, to $17.95.
In communications, Cogeco dipped 94 cents to $103.40, while BCE weakened 37 cents to $66.03.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported GDP rose 0.6% in November on increases across almost all industrial sectors in November.
Markit Canada’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index registered at 56.2 for January, down slightly from 56.5 in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.35 points, or 1.1%, to 868.49.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, with energy climbing 3.4%, energy better by 2.7%.and materials improving 1.2%.
The four laggards were weighed most by utilities, dipping 0.6%, communications descending 0.3%, and real-estate, weaker by 0.1%. .
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were mostly flat Tuesday, following a wild January on Wall Street that saw investors struggle with a Federal Reserve policy shift.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 22.93 points to break for lunch at 35,154.79.
The S&P 500 pulled into the green 1.73 points to 4,517.28.
The NASDAQ moved positive 28.62 points to 14,268.50.
Tech names began sliding following the report, while bank stocks gained. Microsoft slipped 1.1%. Wells Fargo added more than 2%, while JPMorgan and Goldman each gained more than 1%.
The moves follow a two-day rally on Wall Street that ended a volatile month of trading.
Over the past several days, investors have stepped in to buy a dip that briefly knocked the S&P 500 into correction territory — down at least 10% from a recent high. The large-cap index is up more than 3% in the past week.
In corporate news of note, AT&T said it will be shedding its stake in WarnerMedia following a planned merger of the unit with Discovery. AT&T’s board also approved a post-close annual dividend of $1.11, compared to the current rate of $2.08, due to the spinoff. Shares fell 4% following the news. Discovery shares rose 2.6%.
Shares of UPS jumped 13% after the shipping company beat earnings estimates and raised its quarterly dividend 49%. Its rival FedEx added 3%, despite suspending some services due to COVID.
Shares of Exxon Mobil gained more than 3% after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue that jumped more than 80% year over year.
Investors are awaiting more key earnings reports, with Alphabet, General Motors, Starbucks, AMD and PayPal due after the close.
So far, of the 172 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 78.5% topped analysts’ estimates
On the economic data front, the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index came in at 57.6. That’s down from 58.8 in December.
A reading above 50% represents expansion. The data also showed that prices jumped by 7.9 points to 76.1 month over month — another sign of rising inflation.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys faltered a bit, raising yields to 1.80% from Monday’s 1.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite
directions.
Oil prices gained 12 cents to $88.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices collected $12.00 to $1,808.40 U.S. an ounce.
