Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, lifted by a slew of upbeat earnings from energy and mining companies, while investors waited for the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week for clues on the direction of interest rates.
The S&P/TSX Composite progressed toward noon hour ET on Tuesday ahead 309.72 points, or 1.5%, to 21,001.94.
The Canadian dollar acquired 0.21 cents to 77.89 cents U.S.
Restaurant Brands International fell 75 cents, or 1%, to $72.58, despite the Burger King owner beating estimates for quarterly results.
Energy stocks were fired up, though, as Imperial Oil jumped $2.24, or 3.4%, to $67.41.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 5.88 points to 797.56
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with energy racing 3.1%, materials better by 2.3%, and information technology up 1.6%.
Only health-care was negative, ailing 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as investors looked forward to a pivotal Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials muscled higher 174.26 points to 33,235.76.
The S&P 500 gained 31.73 points to 4,187.11.
The NASDAQ Composite improved 29.87 points to 12,565.88.
Those moves come ahead of a widely anticipated Federal Reserve decision on Wednesday.
Wall Street is largely expecting interest rates the central bank to raise rates by 50 basis points this week, while some investors believe expectations of aggressive monetary tightening from the central bank are already priced into markets.
The expected rate hike comes as there are growing concerns about the global economy, due in part to China’s lockdowns and the war in Europe.
Tuesday’s gains were broad, but led by the energy sector. Exxon Mobil and EOG Resources each rose more than 2%. Defensive sectors such as health care and utilities also outperformed, with Pfizer gained 2.8% after reporting a stronger-than-expected first quarter.
Chegg’s stock price tumbled nearly 30% after the textbook company issued weak guidance for the full year despite exceeding earnings expectations. Shares of Clorox rose more than 4% after the company’s fiscal third quarter results topped expectations.
Airbnb, AMD, Lyft and Starbucks are expected to report earnings after the bell Tuesday.
On the data front, factory orders for March rose 2.2%, better than expected. Job openings came in at 11.5 million, an all-time high.
Treasury prices grew, lowering yields to 2.92% from Monday’s 2.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped $1.55 to $103.62 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered from Monday’s beating, picking up $10.20 to $1,873.800 U.S. an ounce.
