Equity markets in Toronto climbed slightly on Tuesday as gains in materials and energy shares helped offset weakness in the financial sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 48.44 points to greet noon at 14,563.18
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.2 cents to 91.76 cents U.S.
Providing further support was a rise in shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International after the drug maker said its sweetened takeover offer for Allergan Inc would not be an all-cash bid as was expected.
Opening after a long weekend, the Toronto stock market advanced after recording declines in the previous three sessions. It is up 6.7% so far this year.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, rose, helped by higher commodity prices. Barrick Gold added 0.8% to $18.20, and Teck Resources climbed 0.7% to $24.81.
Shares of energy producers were up despite a decline in the price of oil. Encana Corp jumped 1.3% to $24.93.
But financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, gave back ground. Royal Bank of Canada slipped 0.4% to $72.54, and Bank of Montreal lost 0.4% to $74.50.
Valeant rose 1.6% to $139.77, helping to push up the index's healthcare sector.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales decreased 0.4% to $50.5 billion in March. Lower sales were recorded in three of the seven sub-sectors, which together accounted for 51% of wholesale sales.
The motor vehicle and parts sub-sector recorded the largest decline in March. Excluding this sub-sector, sales edged up 0.1% to $42.3 billion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 0.16 points to 976.39
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher Tuesday, led by health-care, up 2.3%, industrials, up 0.9%, and materials, gaining 0.7%
The four laggards were weighed mostly by consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.2%, while global base metals and utilities each docked 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks approached noon ET lower as Staples, Dick's Sporting Goods and other retailers slump on lackluster earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 66.81 points to pause for lunch at 16,445.05
The S&P 500 was off 6.09 points to 1,878.99, and the NASDAQ composite index dipped 10.88 points to 4,114.94
U.S. stocks hit record highs last week, but have since been in a bit of a holding pattern.
Office supply retailer Staples slumped over 10% on lousy earnings and a warning that results in the current period are likely to fall short of expectations. That news also weighed on rival Office Depot which fell 2%.
Dick's Sporting Goods tumbled 15% after revealing sub-par golf and hunting sales that sparked weaker than expected results. Dick's also spooked investors by dimming its sales and earnings outlook for the entire year. The company needs a new round -- or arsenal -- of ideas.
It wasn't much better for regular clothing, either. Shares of Urban Outfitters fell 5% after the retailer revealed a profit drop that was driven by higher expenses. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls parent TJX slid 4% on an earnings and sales miss.
Another struggling retailer, Target announced the departure of Canadian chief Tony Fisher, who will be replaced by Mark Schindele. The move comes just weeks after Target dismissed CEO Gregg Steinhafel and amid concerns about continued losses in the company's Canadian division.
Department store J.C. Penney lost ground amid reports it was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo.
The lone positive store story today is Home Depot, which rallied 2% after upgrading its outlook. The rosier view offset concerns over the home improvement retailer's weak first-quarter profits and sales. It seems people really are doing their spring cleaning and summer repairs.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries enjoyed slight gains, lowering yields to 2.53% from Monday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices slid 16 cents to $102.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added 90 cents to $1,294.70 U.S. an ounce.
