Equity markets in Canada’s largest market rose on Tuesday as financial and industrial stocks made gains, while the energy sector weighed with a pullback in oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 57.35 points to pause for lunch hour at 14,553.58
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.19 cents to 75.6 cents U.S.
The financials group, which accounts for 35% of the index's weight, gained as investors brace for the outcomes of U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings on Wednesday.
Royal Bank of Canada advanced 0.6% to $81.21 and Bank of Nova Scotia added 0.8% to $70.55.
Canadian National Railway gained 1.2% to $84.07, helping the industrials group rise
Among energy issues, Encana fell 6% to $12.25 after the natural gas producer said late on Monday that it will issue 107 million new shares to raise just more than $1 billion.
Cenovus Energy declined 0.9% to $17.59.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength
Barrick Gold's Veladero gold mine in Argentine, closed by the government last week after a solution containing cyanide leaked, could resume operations in the next two weeks, the company's president said on Monday.
Its shares rose 0.4% to $22.81.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.45 points to 802.13
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were gainers Tuesday morning, as information technology soared 1.8%, while utilities grew 0.8%, and consumer discretionaries trucked along 0.7%.
The lone laggard proved to be health-care, lower by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border remained higher on Tuesday on the heels of disappointing housing data, while investors awaited the latest monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed positive 48.55 points to 18,168.72, with Merck leading advancers and DuPont the top decliner.
The S&P 500 was 3.74 points above water to 2,142.86, with health-care doing the most to power the index.
The NASDAQ Composite were still positive 8.8 points to 5,243.82
Housing starts in the U.S. came in at an annualized rate of 1.14 million in August, shy of the expected 1.19 million. Construction permits fell 0.4% to a 1.14 million-unit rate last month.
Housing starts and permits were two of the last data sets released as the Fed began its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. Market expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates on Wednesday were low.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury increased, lowering yields to 1.67% from Monday’s 1.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened 43 cents at $43.73 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices moved into the green 30 cents at $1,318.10 U.S. an ounce.
