The Toronto stock market got off to a strong start to September trading amid improved manufacturing data from China
The S&P/TSX composite index remained positive by 105.25 points to greet noon at 12,759.15, off its highs of the morning.
The Canadian dollar added 0.14 cents at 94.94 cents U.S.
Support also came from the telecom sector on Tuesday after U.S. telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. said it was no longer interested in entering the Canadian wireless market. Verizon had announced Monday that it was paying $130 billion U.S. for the 45% stake in Verizon Wireless owned by British cellphone carrier Vodafone.
Rogers Communications rose $2.79, or 6.7%, to $44.38, BCE Inc. climbed $1.76, or 4.1%, to $44.95 and Telus Corp. jumped $1.91, or 5.8%, to $34.60.
Techs also advanced after Microsoft Corp. announced it was buying Nokia Corp.'s lineup of smartphones and a portfolio of patents and services for US$7.2 billion. Buyout hopes for BlackBerry sent the smartphone maker's stock up 21 cents to $10.85.
On the commodity markets, copper prices ran ahead following two reports -- both released Monday -- that showed China's manufacturing sector improved last month after prolonged weakness. China is the world's biggest consumer of copper, which itself is an economic barometer as it is used in so many applications.
The HSBC purchasing managers' index rose to 50.1 points in August, a level that indicates expansion as output and new orders edged up slightly and order backlogs rose at the fastest pace in two years. The official China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing PMI showed increasing expansion, rising to 51 from July's 50, which was the highest level in 16 months.
December copper got extra lift from the strong U.S. manufacturing data and gained eight cents to $3.31 U.S. a pound, sending the base metals sector up. Teck Resources advanced 86 cents to $27.38.
The energy sector gained as Suncor Energy rose 57 cents to $36.07.
In the gold sector, Goldcorp Inc. gained 54 cents to $31.64.
Financials also provided lift as TD Bank ran up $1.15 to $90.77.
Jobs data will also weigh on markets this week.
Statistics Canada is expected to report Friday that the economy created about 30,000 jobs in August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 7.10 points to 946.41
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, led by telecoms, hiking 4.9%, while global base metals and metals and mining each gained 2.6%.
The three naysayers were utilities, listing lower by 0.8%, consumer staples, down 0.3%, and industrials, off 0.01%. .
ON WALLSTREET
Investors received quite the welcome back from Wall Street on Tuesday with two merger announcements.
With two deals set to transform the technology industry, traders saw reasons for optimism coming back after the summer stock market doldrums.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell far from its highs of the morning, but were still ahead 20,46 points to pause for lunch at 14,830.80
The S&P 500 index picked up 6.82 points to 1,639.79. The NASDAQ recovered 28.67 points to 3,618.54
In the second-biggest merger ever, Verizon said it will pay $130 billion U.S. to take full control of Verizon Wireless, and Microsoft said it was buying Nokia's mobile phone business for $7.2 billion U.S.
Investors didn't reward the two big buyers in the M&A market on Tuesday.
Shares of Microsoft dropped more than 4% following the deal, while Nokia's shares soared.
Verizon's stock dropped roughly 4% following the buyout.
Investors like the agreement between Time Warner Cable and CBS to end a month-long blackout and restore CBS programming to about three million viewers, with both stocks rising.
However, investors had some reasons to remain wary, following reports of a ballistic missile launch in the eastern Mediterranean region, which revived concerns about a U.S.-led strike on Syria.
Israel's Ministry of Defense confirmed that Israeli forces and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency had carried out a missile test and said Israel would release further information about the launch soon.
On the economic front, manufacturing data in the U.S. came in above expectations, after better-than-expected manufacturing data was released in Europe and Asia over the long weekend.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury plummeted, raising yields to 2.89% from Friday’s 2.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 29 cents to $107.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $10.10 to $1,406.20 U.S. an ounce.
