Equities in Toronto surged at the open on Tuesday, jumping more than 2% after China announced a rate cut overnight following Monday's volatile global rout.
The S&P/TSX composite index regained 311.7 points, or 2.4%, to open Tuesday’s trading at 13,364.44 after a loss of more than 400 points Monday.
Bank of Montreal, Canada's fourth-largest bank, reported a higher third-quarter profit, helped by growth in its wealth management and personal and commercial banking businesses.
Net income was $1.19 billion, or $1.80 per share, compared with $1.13 billion, or $1.67 per share, in the third quarter of 2014. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $1.86. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.73 a share. BMO shares triumphed $2.91, or 4.4%, to $69.09.
Encana Corp. said it would sell its Haynesville natural gas assets in northern Louisiana for $850 million to GEP Haynesville LLC, a joint venture between GeoSouthern Haynesville and funds managed by GSO Capital Partners LP. Encana will also reduce its gathering and midstream investments by about $480 million on an undiscounted basis by 2020.
Encana shares started out higher 60 cents, or 7.8%, to $8.33.
Sun Life Financial is in talks to buy New York-based insurer Assurant Inc's employee-benefits unit for about $900 million, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Sun shares galloped $1.35, or 3.4%, to $40.61.
CIBC cut the target price on Canyon Well Services to $8.00 from $10.00, saying the second-quarter reporting season continued to be very challenging for the sector. Canyon shares took on a nickel, or 1.2%, to $4.20.
CIBC cut the price target on Transalta Corp to $10.00 from $11.00 on the company’s poor Q2 results due to planned and unplanned outages and weak trading results. Transalta shares picked up 31 cents, or 4.9%, to $6.54.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 9.28 points, or 1.8%, to 527.77
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, led by financials, richer by 3.4%, while consumer staples and energy were each 3.2% to the good.
The two laggards were gold, down 2.3%, and materials, sliding 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks jumped about 2% on Tuesday, attempting a bounce after the Dow's worst three-day point drop in history, as a recovery in oil prices and overnight easing in China helped investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones industrial average restored 353.02 points, or 2.2%, to open 16,224.37, after a dip of nearly 600 points yesterday.
The S&P 500 took on 42.69 points, or 2.3%, to 1,935.90, to recover from correction territory on an intraday basis.
The NASDAQ index gained back 124.75 points, or 2.8%, to 4,651, as Netflix and Chinese stocks such as JD.com and Baidu led advancers. Alibaba jumped more than 3%.
Apple surged more than 4.5%.
However, the gains fall short of Monday's more-than-3.5% plunge and the Dow remains on pace for its biggest monthly percentage loss since February 2009 and the NASDAQ since 2008. The S&P 500 is on track for its largest percentage loss since May 2010.
U.S. stock index futures extended gains after the Chinese central bank announced plans early in the morning ET to cut its one-year lending rate to 4.6% which the People's Bank of China said was provide long-term liquidity and help support the economy.
In earnings, Best Buy, Toll Brothers and Sanderson Farms reported before the market open.
Best Buy beat estimates by 15 cents U.S. with adjusted quarterly profit of 49 cents per share, with revenue also beating forecasts. Same-store sales rose 2.7% compared to the Thomson Reuters forecast of a 1% increase.
Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers reported a 12% rise in third quarter orders. Earnings and revenue were roughly in line with estimates, although profits were down from a year earlier.
Poultry producer Sanderson Farms posted earnings that fell substantially shy of the $2.90 U.S. consensus estimate with quarterly profit of $2.27, while revenue was also below forecasts. The company said a key factor in the quarter's results was continued pricing pressure.
BHP Billiton reported full-year earnings earlier Tuesday which sent shares around 3% higher in London. This came despite the mining giant reporting an 86% plunge in net profit on the back of falling commodity prices, but investors cheered the group's cost-cutting measures.
On the data front, there are a flurry of housing market indicators due Tuesday, with the Case-Shiller home price indices for June showing home prices rose less than expected.
New home sales figures for July came in at an annual rate at 507,000.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence indicator for August came in at 101.5.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries faded, raising yields to 2.09% from Monday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.16 a barrel to $39.40 U.S.
Gold prices dropped eight dollars to $1,145.60 U.S. an ounce.
