Toronto stock markets enjoyed a higher open on Tuesday, even as investors weighed up tensions between Russia and Ukraine and signs of slowing growth in China.
The S&P/TSX composite index began Tuesday higher by 71.04 points to 14,355.47
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.36 cents at 90.86 cents U.S.
Canada Revenue Agency said on Monday that the private information of about 900 people had been compromised as hackers exploited the "Heartbleed" bug, and security experts warned that more attacks will likely follow.
Greece's bank bailout fund has received bids from anchor investors, including Canadian companies Fairfax Financial Holdings and York Capital, for a big chunk of Eurobank's 2.86-billion-euro ($3.95 billion U.S.) share offering, according to sources. Fairfax shares gave back $1.00 to $469.00
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp and entertainment company Cineplex Inc have together emerged as the leading contender to buy restaurant and arcade chain Dave & Buster's Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Onex shares gathered 18 cents to $61.16, while Cineplex demurred eight cents to $40.95.
On the economic schedule, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales leaped 1.4% in February to $51.2 billion, the highest since July 2008, the peak reached before the last recession began.
According to figures released this morning by the Canadian Real Estate Association, national home sale rose 1% from February to March. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity stood 4.9% above levels of March of last year. CREA also says the number of newly-listed homes edged up 0.5% between February and March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed ahead 0.23 points to 996.24
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher in the first hour of trading, led by health-care, up 1.5%, while industrials surged 1.1%, and information technology clicked 1% higher.
The four laggards were weighed by gold, down 2.7%, metals and mining, slipping 1.6%, and global base metals, fading 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors welcomed solid earnings from two blue-chips early Tuesday as they brace for a deluge of corporate results this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 88.27 points to begin Tuesday at 16,261.51, following upbeat reports from Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson.
The S&P 500 gained 11.39 points to 1,842, and the NASDAQ composite index jumped 21.95 to 4,044.64
Corporate earnings are in focus this week with nine Dow companies and 10% of the S&P 500 set to release first-quarter results.
Overall, earnings in the quarter are expected to fall 1.6% versus last year, according to FactSet Research, although many of the early corporate reports have been better than expected, including Coke today and Citigroup yesterday.
Popular tech stocks like Google, Facebook and Twitter rebounded yesterday and are up over 1% today in early trading.
U.S. stocks closed higher Monday after a choppy day of trading, snapping a two-day losing streak that roiled the markets. All three indexes are still down for the year.
Trading volume is expected to be light this week, with many market participants taking time off for the Passover holiday. North American markets will be dark on Friday in honour of Good Friday.
In economic news, the government's Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in March, which was slightly stronger than expected. Excluding food and energy prices, the index increased 0.1%, matching expectations.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell, raising yields to 2.65% from Monday’s 2.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 32 cents to $103.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $32.10 to $1,295.40 U.S. an ounce.
