The Toronto stock market registered a healthy advance Tuesday ahead of a conference call between finance ministers and central bank governors from seven of the world’s most industrialized powers.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 118.85 points, or 1.1%, to begin the session at 11,454.62
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and their counterparts at the other G-7 countries are to discuss the worsening European debt crisis, which is spreading to the banking sector.
Traders also took in a widely-expected announcement from the Bank of Canada that it was leaving its key interest rate unchanged at 1% because of a worsening economic environment.
The Canadian dollar traded up 0.28 to 96.50 cents U.S., as the bank kept the door open for future rate hikes.
In its accompanying statement, the bank said "to the extent that the economic expansion continues and the current excess supply in the economy is gradually absorbed, some modest withdrawal of the present considerable monetary policy stimulus may become appropriate."
The energy sector rose with Suncor Energy ahead 14 cents to $27.85.
The financial sector was up with TD Bank ahead 33 cents to $76.83.
The base metals sector was slightly higher while copper prices declined three cents to $3.28 U.S. a pound. Ivanhoe Mines climbed 14 cents to $9.82.
Among gold plays, Barrick Gold Corp. faded 11 cents to $43.66.
In corporate news, Canadian Pacific Railway has elected Paul Haggis as chairman of the company’s board of directors. New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management succeeded in May in its months-long battle to oust now former CEO Fred Green, a 34-year veteran of the railroad. CP shares slipped 57 cents to $72.38.
Calgary-based WestJet Airlines Ltd. says its passenger traffic was up 7.2% from May 2011, while fleet capacity and yield also improved. WestJet’s chief executive, Gregg Saretsky, says bookings are also showing continued strength ahead of the busy summer travel season and its shares gained 28 cents to $15.28.
Westport Innovations Inc. has teamed up with global giant Caterpillar Inc. to co-develop natural gas technology to fuel off-road heavy equipment that typically use diesel.
Caterpillar will fund the development program and Westport, a Vancouver-based specialist in engine technology, expects to supply key components for products developed under the initiative. Westport shares jumped $2.74 to $25.89.
Belden Inc. has made a friendly takeover offer for Montreal-based Miranda Technologies Inc., which makes high-performance hardware and software for the television industry.
Belden's offer of $17 per share cash values Miranda at about $371.5 million. Miranda's share price jumped 62% shortly after the Toronto Stock Market opened, to $16.88.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the value of building permits fell 5.2% to $6.5 billion in April, ending a win streak at two straight months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 8.98 points to 1,287.53 The Nasdaq Canada index tacked on 5.47 points to 352.73
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were in the green, led by energy issues, up 1.9%, metals and mining stocks, ahead 1.4%, and utilities, gaining 1.2%.
The two laggards were gold, down 0.2%, and telecoms, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks churned Tuesday after Spain's Treasury Minister says Spain's credit markets are frozen and a G7 call reportedly gets underway.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained back 14.27 points to 12,115.73
The S&P 500 was 4.85 points higher at 1,283.03. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was up 14.23 points to 2,774.24
Financial stocks were among the biggest gainers. Shares of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were all up more than 2%.
Shares of Starbucks fell a day after the company announced plans to buy a bakery chain. News of an impending business initiative sent shares higher at the close on Monday, but the acquisition itself was not enough to keep investors' interest.
Facebook shares continue their slide early Tuesday. Reports Monday that Facebook is looking at ways to allow children younger than 13 to use the site is prompting new criticism of the social networking company.
Netflix shares edged higher after announcing late Monday that it would start its own content delivery network to provide its streaming service to customers. Shares of Akamia, tech company that currently provides some of that service to Netflix, slid in early trading.
Shares of Research in Motion rebounded slightly Tuesday. The BlackBerry maker closed below $10 U.S. a piece on Monday, the lowest level since December 2003.
Attention will remain focused on Europe as the Spanish banking system teeters on the edge of collapse, and Greece comes closer to a possible exit from the euro.
Spain's Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro told a Spanish radio network early Tuesday that the country has been nearly shut out of global finance markets, and that the country’s banking system would need help from other European countries.
Yields on Spain's 10-year bond jumped as high as 6.5% before pulling back.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said Monday that there is a one-in-three chance Greece will leave the euro currency union in the coming months.
Finance officials of the world's seven largest economies, the G-7, are reportedly holding an emergency call Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
Economically speaking, the Institute for Supply Management's services index for May was due out this morning. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the index to fall slightly to 53.1 from April's 53.5. But any reading above 50 still indicated growth in the service sector, which makes up the majority of the U.S. economy.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost some ground, raising yields to 1.56% from Monday’s 1.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil stepped back 18 cents Tuesday to $83.80 U.S.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $3.10 to $1,617.00 U.S. an ounce.
