Equity markets in Toronto enjoyed a higher open on Tuesday, with strength manifesting itself pretty much across the board, spearheaded by gains in metals stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index opened Tuesday’s session 45.75 points higher at 14,324.29
The Canadian dollar gained 0.15 cents at 89.49 cents U.S.
Metals stocks, as mentioned, strengthened the most among subgroups in Toronto, with Turquoise Hill Resources taking on 13 cents, or 3.5%, to $3.82.
Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters union will meet on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labour deal for some 3,000 conductors, yard workers, and traffic coordinators. CN shares declined 17 cents to $61.75.
BMO raised the price target on BlackBerry to $8.00 from $7.00, maintaining a rating of market perform. BlackBerry shares gained 11 cents, or 1%, to $10.61.
Octagon Capital cut the rating on Maple Leaf Foods to hold from buy. Maple Leaf shares dipped 15 cents to $16.83.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 4.63 points to 1,023.77
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at the outset, metals and mining leading the way, up 2.6%, while global base metals charged ahead 1.9%, and gold went north 1.6%.
The lone laggard was in telecoms, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors seem to be getting over Monday’s tech stock selloff, and putting their money back into the market early Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 95.88 points to 16,372.57. The S&P 500 index regained 9.65 points to 1,867.09. The NASDAQ recovered 30.23 points to 4,256.67
But a sense of caution prevails. The NASDAQ has fallen by nearly 2% this month. The Dow and S&P 500 are only down slightly for the month.
In corporate news, Walgreen Co. shares are gaining even though the drugstore chain said that it will close 76 stores. Walgreen's also said earnings fell slightly from a year ago, but the company had positive things to say about its joint venture with European drugstore chain Alliance Boots.
Shares of Walt Disney were up after it said it would buy Maker Studios, a leading producer and distributor of videos on YouTube. Its vast array of online channels total 5.5 billion YouTube views per month, according to Maker, which makes it one of the most successful online video companies of its kind.
Shares of Sonic are higher after the drive-in restaurant operator reported earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations.
Carnival shares fell after the cruise company reported a first-quarter loss.
Economic news continues to be mixed. U.S. home prices slipped 0.1% in January reflecting the frigid winter. It was the third month that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index declined. But year over year, the index is up 13.2%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries slumped, puffing up yields to 2.75% from Monday’s 2.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched down six cents to $99.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices up $4.30 to $1,315.50 U.S. an ounce.
