Rising energy stocks and solid earnings from grocery chain Loblaw Companies Ltd. sent the Toronto stock market returning to its 2009 highs Tuesday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished up 117.74 points on the day, or 1%, to 11,630.00, a third straight hike for the index.
Consumer staples stocks were up, led by grocery store chain Loblaw, which announced that its third-quarter net earnings increased 20.4% to $189 million
Earnings news from Loblaw helped send the consumer staples sector up.
Loblaw shares moved up $1.50 to $31.90 after the company reported quarterly net income of $189 million or 69 cents per share, up from year-ago profit of $157 million or 57 cents per share.
The grocer also said that revenues totaled $9.47 billion for the quarter, down slightly from $9.49 billion last year.
Shares in rival grocery chain Metro Inc. gained $1.54 to $36.10.
The financial sector rose with CIBC ahead $1.08 to $66.93.
The investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group said Monday it has signed a deal with U.S. hedge fund Paloma Securities to acquire the company's global securities lending business. Financial details weren't disclosed and BMO shares were up $1.36 at $52.95.
The energy sector was up as Suncor Energy advanced 84 cents to $38.88.
Railway stocks helped push the industrials sector ahead, with Canadian National Railways up 80 cents to $57.90.
CAE shares rose 17 cents to $8.86 as it announced the sale of two ARJ21 flight simulators worth $35 million to COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Customer Service Co.
The gold sector improved as Barrick Gold Corp. gained $1.33 to $47.48.
The base metals sector was flat as December copper in New York was unchanged at $3.10 U.S. a pound after running up 13 cents Monday. HudBay Minerals declined 33 cents to $16.00.
In other corporate news, shares in steel processor Royal Laser Corp. surged 5.5 cents or 24.4% to 28 cents after it said Tuesday it has received an unsolicited takeover offer from an unnamed company.
Royal Laser services, processes and distributes flat-rolled steel for the automotive industry. It also fabricates products for the industrial, environmental and construction industries.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.02 cents to 95.12 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups ended the day positive, led by metals and mining stocks, up 2.1%, consumer staples, ahead 1.3%, and global base metals, gaining 1.2%.
Only a settling of 0.1% by telecoms kept the gainers from pitching a shutout.
The TSX Venture Exchange shot up 8.10 points to 1,386.04, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 1.19 points to 673.04.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks recovered from early losses Tuesday, closing at 13-month highs for the second day in a row, as strength in commodity-linked shares offset weakness in the retail sector.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved ahead 30.46 to 10,437.42, yet another 13-month high. The S&P 500 index moved up 1.02 points to 1,110.32 while the Nasdaq composite index gained 5.93 points to 2,203.78.
The rebound in commodities prices boosted shares of energy and materials companies. But gains were limited by weakness in the retail sector after Home Depot and Target offered cautious earnings outlooks.
Tuesday's economic news was mixed. Government data showed inflation at the wholesale level remains subdued, while industrial production was weaker than expected in October.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar remained firm against rival currencies after falling near a 15-month low in the previous session.
Home Depot reported a decline in third-quarter earnings to 41 cents U.S. per share from 45 cents in the year-ago quarter. While the results were better than the 36-cent-per-share profit that analysts had expected, the company said it expects earnings for the full year to be down 13%.
Discount retailer Target reported an 18% increase in third-quarter profit, helped by gains in the company's credit card portfolio. But Target, which had suffered declining profits for the last eight quarters, remained cautious about the outlook for holiday spending.
TJX, which owns the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, reported a larger-than-expected quarterly profit on increased consumer demand for discount products. The company said it expects profit from continuing operations of 65 cents to 71 cents U.S. per share in the fourth quarter.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are forecasting a profit of 71 cents U.S. per share in the fourth-quarter.
On the higher end, Saks reported a quarterly profit, surprising analysts who were expecting the company to report a loss. However, the results were driven mostly by cost-cutting, and the company offered a cautious outlook.
On the economic front, the U.S. government reported that the Producer Price Index, the key measure of inflation for manufacturers, edged up 0.3% in October. The core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.6%.
The PPI was expected to have risen 0.5% for the month, according to a consensus of economist opinion from Briefing.com. The core was expected to have edged up 0.1% in October.
Before start of market trading, the government also reported that industrial production rose 0.1% last month versus a forecasted 0.4% increase. In September, production rose 0.7%.Capacity utilization rose by 0.2 percentage point to 70.7%, a rate slightly below economists' expectations for 70.8%.
Treasury prices crept higher, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.32% from Monday’s 3.34%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil recovered 24 cents to $79.13 U.S.
Gold prices were flat at $1,139 U.S. an ounce, still, an all-time high.
