Equities in Canada’s main stock index started to climb as morning turned into afternoon on Tuesday as real-estate and consumer stocks’ strength countered weakness in resource issues, while an in-line inflation reading did little to sway bets of an interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada next month.
The TSX prospered 76.38 points to break for lunch Tuesday at 19,663.70.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.13 cents to 75.89 cents U.S.
Among individual stocks, Thomson Reuters said it had agreed to acquire Casetext, a legal startup with an artificial intelligence-powered assistant for law professionals, in a $650-million all-cash deal. Thomson shares took on $1.24 to $179.15.
Brookfield's insurance arm offered to buy American Equity Life Holding in a deal valued at nearly $4.3 billion. Brookfield shares improved 62 cents, or 1.1%, to $42.02.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reports the consumer price index rose 3.4% on a year-over-year basis in May, following a 4.4% increase in April. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in May.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups forged ahead in the first hour, with real-estate and consumer discretionary stocks each grabbing 0.6%, and information technology ahead 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed most by energy, declining 0.9%, while materials and gold each down 0.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forged ahead 0.15 points to 602.14.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Tuesday for the first positive session in seven and Wall Street readied for the end of the second quarter and first half.
The 30-stock index gained 134.87 points to break for lunch Tuesday at 33,849.58, even as Walgreens shed more than 8% after slashing its full-year profit guidance and reporting weaker-than-expected earnings. The Dow ended slightly lower for its sixth consecutive negative session and longest losing streak since September 2022.
The S&P 500 recovered 25.99 points to 4,354.81.
The NASDAQ index chugged ahead 111.41 points to 13,447.18.
Despite Monday’s leg down, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are still on pace to finish June more than 3% higher, while the Dow is poised for a monthly advance of nearly 2.6%.
Wall Street also assessed a fresh batch of economic data. That included durable goods data that showed a surprise increase and consumer confidence data that improved more than expected in June.
Consumer confidence for the month rose to an index value of 109.7, up from 102.5 in May and better than the Dow Jones estimate for 104. That was the highest reading since January 2022.
New home sales rose more than expected in May despite stubbornly high mortgage rates, according to data Census Bureau data release Tuesday.
The data showed sales rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000, far exceeding the 675,000 estimate expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury tailed off, raising yields to 3.77% from Monday’s 3.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices lost 59 cents to $68.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $9.80 to $1,924.20 U.S. an ounce.
