Stocks in Toronto vaulted by Tuesday’s end, further boosted by the continued rally in energy and health-care stocks that helped offset losses in financials and utilities.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 66.18 points, to close Tuesday at 14,599.40
The Canadian dollar inched upwards 0.02 at 78.51 cents U.S.
Among health-care issues – gaining the most of all subgroups – Extendicare took the steepest trip upward, adding nine cents, or 1.1%, to $8.08.
Energy stocks displayed some pep, as Bankers Petroleum gushed 28 cents, or 10.6%, to $2.93, and Penn West Petroleum gained 16 cents, or 8.4%, to $2.07.
Among consumer staples, Alimentation Couche-Tard spiked $1.25, or 2.3%, to $54.99, while Loblaw tacked on $1.23, or 1.9%, to $66.05.
Global base metals proved the worst off of the lagging subgroups, as Orbite Technologies lost a penny, or 4.2%, to 23 cents.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 1.63 points to close Tuesday at 645.09
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were positive, as health-care proved 2% haler, energy gained 1.9%, and consumer staples moved ahead 1.4%
The four laggards were weighed mostly by global base metals, down 0.9%, metals and mining, off 0.7%, and gold, down 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher in light volume trade Tuesday as second-quarter earnings season began and investors eyed developments in Greece and a slight recovery in oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 75.90 points to 18,053.55, with UnitedHealth leading advancers and Johnson & Johnson the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 progressed 9.35 points to 2,108.95, with health-care leading nine sectors higher and utilities the only laggard.
The NASDAQ index added 33.38 points to 5,104.89, as biotechs surged more than 2%, while Apple ended a touch lower.
Second-quarter earnings season kicked off with banks JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo and pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson reporting before the opening bell. CSX and Yum Brands report after the close.
JPMorgan Chase gained 1.4% after delivering quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations on Tuesday, helped by lower expenses. Revenue beat expectations slightly but was lower year-over-year.
Johnson & Johnson fell 0.5% as the greatest laggard in the Dow after the firm reported a 4% rise in quarterly profit as sales of its mainstay older drugs managed to offset the impact of a strong dollar on overseas revenue.
Wells Fargo gained 0.9% after posting earnings per share in-line with estimates on revenue slightly below expectations.
On the economic slate, retail sales showed a decline of 0.3%, missing expectations of a 0.3% increase.
In other economic news, May business inventories rose 0.3%, in-line with expectations. Business sales rose 0.4% after increasing 0.5% in April.
U.S. import prices unexpectedly fell in June as the lingering effects of a strong dollar offset rising costs for petroleum products, keeping imported inflation pressure under wraps.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.40% from Monday’s 2.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 72 cents a barrel to $52.92 U.S.
Gold prices erased $1.20 at $1,154.20 U.S. an ounce.
