Canadian stocks followed their Wall Street peers higher on Tuesday after fresh evidence of easing U.S. inflation raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow its pace of interest rate hikes.
The TSX Composite came off its highs of the morning, but remained positive 123.93 points to break for lunch Tuesday at 20,045.74.
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.23 cents to 75.28 cents U.S.
Techs led gainers, with Evertz Technologies ahead 65 cents, or 5.6%, to $12.30, while Absolute Software picked up 54 cents, or 4.3%, to $13.11.
Among health-care concerns, Cronos Group sprinted 20 cents, or 5%, to $4.20, while Tilray grabbed 20 cents, or 3.6%, to $5.75.
Gold stocks provided a brake on the upward progress, as NovaGold slumped 19 cents, or 2.6%, to $7.22, while Torex Gold Resources advanced 41 cents,m or 3.5%, to $11.34.
On the economic slate, motor vehicle sales checked in at 130,421 units, down 4.5% from the 136,584 units sold in September 2021, and the lowest for September sales since 2009.
September’s wholesale trade rose 0.1% to $81.8 billion in September. The largest increases came from personal and household goods and food, beverage and tobacco subsectors
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported national home sales were up 1.3% on a month-over-month basis in October. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) monthly activity came in 36% below October 2021. CREA also said the number of newly listed properties edged up 2.2% month-over-month.
Lastly, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales were unchanged in September as higher sales in the aerospace product and parts and primary metal industries were largely offset by lower sales in the petroleum and coal and food industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 5.32 points to 596.43.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, led by information technology, up 3.1%, health-care, ahead 2.2%, and consumer discretionary, better by 1.5%
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.5%, materials, subsiding 03%, and consumer staples, edging up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Tuesday after another report signaled that inflation could be slowing, reigniting a rally in equities.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 260.18 points to move into noon hour at 33,796.88.
The S&P 500 progressed 62.38 points, or 1.6%, to 4,019.63
The NASDAQ popped 287.52 points, or 2.6%, to 11,483.74.
Elsewhere, Walmart shares jumped after the company beat Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates and boosted full-year guidance. Home Depot reported strong results too but kept guidance in place for the full year. Its shares rose slightly.
Taiwan Semiconductor, Louisiana-Pacific and Paramount also jumped after regulatory filings showed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had bought new positions in the first two, and raised its stake in the last.
Earnings season continues this week with retail reports from Target, Lowe’s, Bath and Body Works, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Foot Locker on deck.
The producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation, rose 0.2% for the month of October, versus the consensus estimate for a 0.4% increase from Dow Jones. The report comes after last week’s consumer price index data showed signs of inflationary pressure abating last month, sparking a sharp rally.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell hard, raising yields to 3.98% from Monday’s 3.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked 84 cents to $85.03 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded three dollars to $1,773.90 U.S. an ounce.
