Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as a gain in financial shares helped overcome worries about the volatile situation in Iraq and nervousness about the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 19.01 points in the early afternoon at 15,059.44.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.17 at 92.08 cents U.S.
Financials such as Royal Bank of Canada added 0.4% to $75.42, and Toronto Dominion Bank advanced 0.3% to $54.47.
Shares of energy producers gave back 0.3%, reflecting weakness in the price of U.S. crude oil. Suncor Energy lost 0.5% to $46.51, and Canadian Natural Resources slipped 0.8% to $47.33.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.72 points to 1,000.41
ON WALLSTREET
It's another roller coaster day as investors sort through muddled data and news.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 29.28 points to 16,810.29
The S&P 500 nicked up 4.38 points to 1,942.16, and the NASDAQ composite regained 21.60 points to 4,349.68, still positive thanks to strong gains from Tesla and Netflix
In a reversal, New Jersey's lawmakers said that electric car manufacturer Tesla would again be able to sell its electric cars in that state directly to customers. A previous bill barred the practice.
The company's shares are about 4% higher, building on momentum from yesterday's gains after the company said it would share its patent information. Tesla stock is up over 50% for the year.
In a separate development, his green energy company SolarCity announced that it acquired solar panel manufacturer Silevo for $200 million U.S. in stock plus as much $150 million U.S. more should the company hit certain output milestones. SolarCity's shares have popped over 10%.
Coca Cola had quite the morning after activist investor David Winters of Wintergreen Advisors made speculative comments on Fox Business News that Coke could go private. Winters has been a vocal critic of the company lately, especially over the executive compensation plans.
Coke stock shot up as much as 1% at the opening bell on the news.
Warren Buffett, Coke's largest shareholder via his Berkshire Hathaway company, immediately responded telling CNBC there was "absolutely no chance" of that happening. Shares have since fallen back.
Amazon announced this morning that its new smartphone would only be carried by AT&T. Amazon is down slightly, while AT&T is up modestly.
Netflix stock is having a terrific Tuesday. Shares are up more than 3% after an upgrade by Morgan Stanley, which now recommends overweighting the video company.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell, raising yields to 2.64% from Monday’s 2.60%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained 11 cents to $107.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $4.90 at $1,270.40 U.S. an ounce.
