Canadian stocks rose a fourth day, extending a rally to near 10-month highs, as energy producers advanced with crude to offset a slump in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 89.45 points to close at 14,365.61, its highest close since August 11.
The Canadian dollar took on 0.28 cents to 78.3 cents U.S.
Baytex Energy moved higher $1.01, or 14%, to $8.25, and MEG Energy climbed 80 cents or 12.7% to $7.12, as energy stocks surged.
Penn West Petroleum Ltd. soared 14 cents, or 13.2%, to $1.20, for a third day of gains. The oil and gas producer has jumped almost 40% in that time after Bloomberg first reported on Friday Penn West has hired Royal Bank of Canada to sell its Dodsland Viking light oil assets in Saskatchewan, according to people familiar with the deal.
Cott Corp. added $1.87, or 10%, to $20.64, the highest level in more than 10 years, after the water and pop beverage bottler agreed to buy European home and office services business Eden Springs in a €470-million ($534-million) deal.
Valeant sank $5.53, or 15%, to $31.47, after the drugmaker’s delayed first-quarter earnings were short of analysts’ expectations, and the company slashed forecasts. Earnings for 2016 are now expected to be $6.60 to $7 a share, excluding some items, down from March estimates of $8.50 to $9.50.
Gold stocks took their lumps, most notably, Kinross Gold, which faded 17 cents, or 2.6%, to $6.29, and Yamana Gold dipped eight cents, or 1.2%, to $6.40.
On the economic beat, Western University’s IVEY Purchasing Managers Index for May came in at 49.4, compared to 53.1 for April. The survey of purchasing managers asks whether their purchases increased during the month or went down. Any reading below 50 indicates a contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.57 points to 701.02
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive, as energy gushed 3%, consumer discretionaries gathered 1%, and financials picked up 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by metals and mining, down 1.8%, while gold was off 1.5% and health-care lost 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mixed Tuesday, with health care leading decliners and energy leading as oil settled above $50.00 a barrel for the first time since July.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved up 17.95 points to 17,994.26, with Verizon leading advancers and Nike the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 gained 2.72 points at 2,112.13, its highest level since July 22. Health-care was the greatest laggard in the S&P 500.
The NASDAQ moved into negative country 6.96 points to 4,961.75.
Shares of Biogen closed more than 12.5% lower after reporting disappointing results in a mid-stage review for its experimental multiple sclerosis drug treatment.
Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals closed down 10.9% lower after the firm said its drug Soliris missed its primary goal in a late-stage trial. The drug is already approved in the United States for the treatment of two rare blood disorders
In economic news, first-quarter U.S. productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, contracted at an annualized rate of 0.6%, instead of the 1% pace reported last month. Unit labour costs, the price of labour per single unit of output, increased at an upwardly revised 4.5% pace.
Outstanding consumer credit rose a seasonally adjusted $13.4 billion in April, well below expectations. The seasonally-adjusted annual growth rate was 4.5%, down from 9.6% the prior month.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury moved higher, lowering yields to 1.71% from Monday’s 1.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 75 cents a barrel to $50.44 U.S.
Gold prices sank 80 cents to $1,246.60 U.S. an ounce.
