Equity markets in Canada’s biggest centre rose on Tuesday as a rebound in commodity prices helped drive up shares of energy and mining companies.
The S&P/TSX composite index remained positive 19.07 points – off its highs of the morning -- to greet noon at 14,444.62
The Canadian dollar gained 0.20 cents at 77.14 cents U.S.
Shares of gold miners tumbled in the previous session, with the price of gold dropping to a five-year low, sparked by Chinese selling.
Shares of Barrick Gold Corp, the world's biggest gold producer, dropped nearly 16% on Monday.
In the gold-mining sector, Barrick advanced 4% to $9.96 and Goldcorp jumped 5.1% to $17.59.
Among shares of energy producers on Tuesday, Canadian Natural Resources advanced 1.9% to $32.08 and Suncor Energy Inc rose 0.2% to $33.93.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.15 points to 617.12.
Eight of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower by midday, however, weighed mostly by consumer discretionary and telecoms, each down 0.7%, and industrials, off 0.5%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold’s 3.7% hike, while metals and mining proved stronger by 2.4% and materials gained 2%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Tuesday as investors weighed some lackluster earnings reports in some Dow components.
The Dow Jones industrial average collapsed 200.4 points, or 1.1%, to 17,900.01, as IBM and United Technologies plunged more than 5.5% and 7.5%, respectively.
The S&P 500 doffed 8.74 points to 2,119.54,
The NASDAQ index moved lower 15.54 points from Monday’s all-time high to 5,203.32.
IBM reported earnings after the close Monday that missed on revenue, which fell for the 13th consecutive quarter. Both earnings per share and revenue were 13% lower than the year-ago period.
Shares of the tech firm fell about 6% in pre-market trade and stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were down about 70 points while NASDAQ futures turned lower. S&P 500 futures were lower by about four points.
United Technologies earned $1.73 U.S. per share for the second quarter, two cents above estimates, with revenue shy of forecasts. The industrial conglomerate also cut its full-year forecast, in part to reflect the just-announced sale of its Sikorsky Aircraft unit to Lockheed Martin.
Another blue chip, Verizon, also declined with a fall of about 2.5% as revenue came in below estimates. The telecom firm did post earnings three cents above estimates with second-quarter profit of $1.04 U.S. per share. Wireless revenue was up 5.3% compared to a year earlier, while FiOS revenue increased by 10%.
Tech giants Apple and Microsoft post quarterly results after the close. The iPhone maker traded about half a percent lower and Microsoft attempted slight gains.
Companies reporting earnings before the bell Tuesday included Travelers, Baker Hughes and Bank of NY Mellon.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.35% from Monday’s 2.38%. Treasury prices and yields
move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 29 cents a barrel to $50.44 U.S.
Gold prices slid $1.90 to $1,104.90 U.S. an ounce.
