The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday as investors prepared to close the books on a year that saw a solid advance on the TSX.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 40.16 points to end the day, week, month and year at 13,621.55.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.25 cents to 94.15 cents U.S.
The index enjoyed a gain of more than 9% for 2013. TSX gains would have been greater if not for deep losses in the mining sectors.
The gold sector is down almost 50% for the year while the metal sector fell about 28%, the first annual loss since 2000.
Gold prices have taken a big hit this year as the global economy gradually improved and the U.S. Federal Reserve made moves to cut back on a key area of stimulus, its monthly bond purchases.
In addition to the big losses in gold, the base metals component has retreated 22% as an uneven global recovery kept the lid on commodity prices.
Outside of the mining sectors, most TSX sectors did quite well for the year.
Financials were up 22% for the year. Insurers have been particularly strong performers as companies benefited from strong stock market gains and rising bond yields.
Industrials had a good year, up about 35% as railroad stocks shot ahead, helped along in large part by rising shipments of crude oil.
The consumer discretion sector jumped almost 40%. Many stocks almost doubled over the past 52 weeks, including auto parts makers Magna International, which grew 74 cents Tuesday to $85.32, Linamar Corp., whose shares gathered 19 cents New Year’s Eve to $44.33, and Martinrea International, which added seven cents in the year’s last session to $7.83.
On Tuesday, the embattled gold sector was the major advancer, while Barrick Gold climbed 53 cents to $18.73.
The TSX energy sector was ahead on the day and was up about 9.5% for the year. Canadian Natural Resources advanced 41 cents to $35.99.
The base metals group was also ahead with March copper up a penny at $3.40 U.S. a pound. HudBay Minerals was ahead nine cents to $8.74.
All TSX sectors were positive save for a slight dip in the tech sector. But BlackBerry gained 18 cents to $7.90, a long way from its 52-week high of $18.49. Prices started to plummet mid-year when it became apparent its new lineup of smartphones had widely missed expectations.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange spiked 10.73 points to 931.97
As mentioned, all but one of the 14 TSX subgroups finished the session in positive territory, gold chugging 2% higher, materials, notching 1.4% stronger, and metals and mining issues, growing 0.8% better.
Only information technology stocks kept things from being unanimous, falling 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street ended a record-setting year with one last record.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 72.37 points to close trading for 2013 at 16,576.66, its 52nd record high of the year.
The S&P 500 index moved higher 7.29 points to 1,846.70. The NASDAQ gained 22.39 points to 4,176.59.
U.S. markets will be closed Wednesday for New Year's Day, and few shares were trading hands early Tuesday.
The Dow and S&P 500 have soared in 2013. Both indexes are on track to record the biggest annual gains since the late 1990s. The NASDAQ has surged nearly 40% to highs not seen since 2000.
The major gauges are up by 2% to 3% in December, the fourth month in a row stocks have risen.
The top performing stock in the S&P 500 was Netflix, which soared more than 300% this year. On Tuesday, Netflix disclosed that CEO Reed Hastings will see his scheduled base salary and stock options jump by 50% in 2014.
Shares of Hertz jumped Tuesday after the car rental company announced measures to limit the amount of shares held by individual investors to prevent any one investor or group from gaining control of the company.
In economic reports, consumer confidence jumped in December, according to the U.S. Conference Board's index. The group's index rose to 78.1 this month, up from 72 in November. Economists had expected a more modest increase for December, when the holiday spending spree peaks.
Home prices rose at a 13.6% annual rate in October, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. But the report also pointed to slowing price growth.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, raising yields to 3.03% from Monday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 60 cents to $98.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices let go of two dollars to $1,201.60 U.S. an ounce.
