The Toronto stock market was slightly higher by midday on Wednesday as commodity prices pulled back, and new data was released on the U.S. housing market.
The S&P/TSX composite index approached noon higher by 16.43 points at 12,439.14
The Canadian dollar fell 0.02 cents to 102.61 cents U.S.
The energy sector declined with Talisman Energy falling four cents to $14.21.
In corporate developments, B2Gold Corp. plans to acquire CGA Mining Ltd. and its producing Masbate mine in a friendly all-stock deal they value at $1.1 billion. B2Gold stock fell 36 cents or 8.6% to $3.93 while CGA’s rose 21 cents or 7.9% to $2.86 in early trading.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 10.73 points to 1,333.37.
In all, 10 of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon ET. The metals and mining group vied with materials for the top spot, each up 1%, while gold prospered 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by energy, down 0.7%, telecoms, sliding 0.4%, and consumer staples, 0.3% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed Wednesday, as investors parsed through mixed housing reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial average progressed 57.10 points by lunch time Wednesday to 13,621.70
The S&P 500 index added 3.50 points, to 1,462.82, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7.78 points to 3,185.59
Housing stocks moved higher after the existing home sales report. Shares of home improvement retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's, as well as home builders PulteGroup, Lennar and KB Home gained between 1.5% and 2.6%.
General Mills shares rose 2% after the food producer reported quarterly earnings of 66 cents per share, slightly beating expectations.
AutoZone reported better-than-expected earnings but same-store sales fell below forecasts, pushing the company's stock 4% lower.
Bed Bath & Beyond will report after the close.
Yahoo shares rose 1%, after the company announced Tuesday that it would return to shareholders most of the proceeds from selling a portion of its stake in China's Alibaba.
Before the U.S. markets opened, the Bank of Japan said it would expand its asset purchase program by ¥10 trillion to about ¥80 trillion to boost its slowing economy.
On the economic slate, privately-owned housing starts in the U.S. rose by 2.3% to an annualized pace of 750,000 units in August following the downwardly revised 733,000 reading seen in the previous month (initially reported as 746,000). Market expectations going into the report were for an annualized 767,000 starts in August.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.79% from 1.81% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices traded to the lowest levels in more than a month, falling $2.79 to $92.50 U.S. a barrel after being close to $100 U.S. just a week ago.
Gold prices soared $2.40 an ounce to $1,773.60 U.S.
