The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday amid positive corporate news and hopes that Greece and its creditors will soon come to an agreement on the country's debt.
The S&P/TSX composite index grew 19.8 points to conclude Tuesday at 15,284.61
The Canadian dollar took on 0.60 cents to 80.82 cents U.S.
Greece was told it has to ask for an extension to its bailout program. But Greece's new Syriza government has countered that it has a strong mandate to reject the austerity measures that have kept the country from financial collapse.
Without some sort of financing arrangements in place when the current bailout ends after Feb. 28, Greece could face difficulties meeting its obligations and a potential exit from the euro would loom once again.
Gold was also a good barometer of market concern over Greece: the April bullion contract dropped, taking the gold sector down as Goldcorp gave back $1.15 to $28.20.
The energy sector slipped as oil prices moved lower following two days of sharp advances. Suncor dipped 25 cents to $39.15, while Canadian Natural Resources advanced 15 cents to $39.55.
March copper was four cents lower at $2.56 U.S. a pound but the base metals component moved up, as Sherritt International acquired four cents to $2.37
Meanwhile, Restaurant Brands International Inc., the company behind Burger King and the recently acquired Tim Hortons, posted a quarterly loss of $514.2 million U.S. or $2.52 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $66.8 million or 19 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
But revenue totaled $416.3 million, up from $265.2 million and its shares gained $3.90, or 8.1%, to $52.15.
Home renovation retailer Rona Inc. beat expectations as its adjusted profits rose to $17.3 million in the fourth quarter from $4.6 million a year ago, helped by 6% growth in same-store retail sales. Its shares were ahead $1.01, or 7.8%, to $13.93.
Canadian Pacific was also a major gainer, up $7.83, or 3.4%, to $239.68 as the railway and the Teamsters union agreed Monday to binding arbitration, just hours before employees were to be legislated back to work.
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 regained 1.16 points to 697.67
The 14 Toronto subgroups were deadlocked between gainers and losers. Consumer discretionaries gained 1.4%, while metals and mining stocks advanced 1.2%, and consumer staples triumphed 1%.
The seven laggards were weighed most by gold, off 3.5%, materials, down 1.9%, and health-care, off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday after encouraging reports out of Greece sent the S&P 500 to a record.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved out of the red and finished positive 28.23 points to 18,047.58, just below its closing high of 18,053.71. American Express led gains and McDonald's proved the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 gained 3.35 points to 2,100.34, with health-care leading gains and utilities the greatest of five lagging sectors.
The NASDAQ index struggled to gain 5.43 points to 4,899.27.
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 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 2.14% from Friday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recaptured 62 cents per barrel to $53.40 U.S.
Gold prices fell $18.80 an ounce to $1,208.30 U.S.
