Markets in Toronto edged higher on Tuesday as a jump in shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc, after the fast-food chain reported quarterly results, helped offset worries about whether Greece will be able to secure a debt deal.
The S&P/TSX composite index reversed course and acquired 35.28 points to reach noon at 15,300.09
The Canadian dollar took on 0.39 cents to 80.61 cents U.S.
Financials rose as Bank of Montreal advanced 0.4% to $78.97.
Shares of energy producers slipped, with the price of U.S. crude oil dropping 2.6%. Canadian Natural Resources was down 1.2% at $38.93, and Suncor Energy fell 0.5% to $39.19.
The gold-mining sector shed strength. Goldcorp Inc declined 2.6% to $28.58, and Barrick Gold Corp lost 1.2% to $14.94.
Restaurant Brands, formed out of Burger King's takeover of coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons last year, saw higher quarterly sales growth at both brands but posted a net loss due to one-time costs related to the merger. The stock jumped 6.7% to $51.50.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors cut their holdings of Canadian securities by $13.5 billion in December, mostly due to huge divestments in bonds and equities. Meanwhile, Canadian investors acquired $13.9 billion of foreign securities, mostly in U.S. instruments.
Elsewhere, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported that national home sales activity was down by 3.1% from December to January. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity stood 2.0% below January 2014 levels.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.09 points to 696.42
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were up, led by consumer discretionaries, ahead 1.5%, consumer staples, ahead 1.3%, and metals and mining, better by 1%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by gold stocks, slipping 2.7%, materials, decreasing 1.3%, and energy, 0.9% less energetic.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded moderately lower near highs on Tuesday despite the lack of resolution in the Greece-euro-zone standoff.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained negative 20.73 points to 17,998.62, with Microsoft the greatest laggard and Visa leading blue-chip gains.
The S&P 500 moved down 2.02 points to 2,094.97, with telecommunications the greatest laggard and utilities and health care the only advancing sectors.
The NASDAQ index dropped 3.10 points to 4,890.74, off slightly from its record close of 5,048.62 in March 2000.
Medtronic reported earnings that beat on both the top and bottom lines, noting that the results were above the firm's own forecast.
Transocean's CEO Steven Newman stepped down and will be replaced on an interim basis by chairman Ian Strachan. The oilfield services company also slashed its annual dividend by 80%, to 60 cents U.S. per share from the prior $3.00 U.S.
Agilent, Analog Devices, CF Industries, Devon Energy, Fossil and FirstEnergy are among the firms reporting after the bell.
Investors will also be looking ahead to Wednesday, which brings the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's most recent policy-setting meeting.
The New York Fed's Empire State general business conditions index fell in February to 7.78 from January's reading of 9.95.
The NAHB housing market indices showed U.S. home builder sentiment fell two points, largely due to the frigid weather, the National Association of Home Builders said on Tuesday.
Internationally, despite Greece's failure to come to a resolution over a proposal for a six-month extension of its international bailout package, analysts noted that stocks were trading only moderately lower after closing near highs on Friday.
On Wednesday, the European Central Bank will discuss Greek banks' use of emergency liquidity assistance—and after which the ECB may give more clarity as to when or whether it will put a cap on its funding for Greek banks.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped sharply, raising yields to 2.10% from Friday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumped $1.17 per barrel to $51.61 U.S.
Gold prices fell $21.30 an ounce to $1,205.80 U.S.
