The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday amid strong U.S. manufacturing and housing data along with rising commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index grew 131.79 points, or 1.1%, by noon to 11,968.65
The Canadian dollar faded 0.07 cents at 95.18 cents U.S.
Traders also took in some major acquisition news in the healthcare sector.
Two of Canada's largest medical lab operators will be combined under a $1.22-billion friendly takeover deal backed by one of Ontario's largest public sector pension funds. Assuming the deal is approved, LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services will pay $10.75 per share cash and assume $255 million of debt to acquire all of CML HealthCare Inc. of Mississauga, Ont.
LifeLabs serves about 10 million patients and nearly 20,000 physicians in Canada, mainly in Ontario and British Columbia. CML HealthCare Inc. has 112 client care centres in Ontario. It also has 82 imaging centres in Ontario and British Columbia but has been divesting its imaging business to focus more on its medical diagnostic labs. CML shares jumped $3.39 to $10.59.
Several major financial services companies, including Royal Bank of Canada, are planning to set up a new Canadian stock market. The venture, to be called Aequitas Innovations Inc., would be an alternative to the Toronto Stock Exchange and other markets owned by TMX Group Inc.
Aequitas says it intends to introduce meaningful competition, reduce costs and improve market efficiency through innovation.
Commodity prices were positive following a series of steep losses caused by demand concerns and the higher U.S. currency. The TSX base metals component rose as the July copper contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was ahead five cents at $3.07 U.S. a pound. First Quantum Minerals advanced 29 cents to $14.58.
The energy sector rose as Cenovus Energy was ahead 30 cents to $29.38.
The gold sector was ahead while Goldcorp Inc. was up 33 cents to $24.97.
Outside the resource sector, the information technology sector provided support, with BlackBerry ahead 33 cents to $15.08.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.85 points to 881.87
All 14 Toronto subgroups were positive midday Tuesday, led by a 12.3% strengthening of health-care stocks, while real estate stocks surged 2.3%, and metals and mining hiked 2.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street bounced back Tuesday as signs of strength in the U.S. economy overshadowed concerns about China's credit problems.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 103.42 points to greet noon at 14,763.
The S&P 500 index gained 14.48 points to 1,587.57. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite jumped 21.69 points to 3,342.45
After suffering heavy losses in the past few days, investors were encourage to dip back into stocks after a string of upbeat economic reports Thursday.
Shares of Walgreen sank more than 7% after the drugstore chain missed earnings and revenue forecasts.
Barnes & Noble shares plunged after the bookseller said it will stop making the Nook in-house and will partner with a third party to manufacture the eReading device. Sales in the Nook segment fell 34% in the quarter to $108 million.
Carnival said earnings fell 55% to nine cents per share in the second quarter. The beleaguered cruise ship operator warned in May that earnings would suffer this year due to price cuts following the Carnival Triumph mishap. But Carnival's stock rose since earnings were better than expected.
Gun maker Smith & Wesson will release fourth-quarter results after the market closes.
Economically, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index was up 12.1% in April compared to a year ago for the 20 top real estate markets across the nation. It was the biggest annual jump in prices in seven years and the 2.5% jump from March was the biggest one-month rise in the 12-year history of the index.
In more good news for housing, homebuilder Lennar Corp. reported sales and earnings that topped forecasts. New orders rose 27% in the quarter.
Lennar shares were up nearly 4% on the news, while rival homebuilders PulteGroup, Toll Brothers and DR Horton were also higher.
A report on durable goods came in better than expected. The U.S. Census Bureau said new orders for big-ticket items rose 3.6% in May. Economists had forecast a 3% rise.
New home sales also topped estimates, rising 2% in May to a seasonally adjusted rate of 476,000 units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Meanwhile, a measure of consumer confidence rose to the highest level since January 2008. The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence for June hit 81.4, up from 74.3 in May. Consumers have been encouraged by improvement in the job market, the business research group said.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury against tumbled, boosting yields to 2.59% from Monday’s 2.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained back 26 cents to $95.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $2.50 to $1,274.30 U.S. an ounce
