The Toronto stock market was sharply higher Tuesday as bank stocks gained traction amid more major dealmaking in the Canadian financial sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index soared 171.87 points, or 1.3%, to close at 13,365.15
The Canadian dollar eased 0.05 of a cent to 98.29 cents U.S.
The financial sector ran ahead after TD Bank said it is buying Chrysler Financial, the automaker’s old lending arm, from U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital for $6.3 billion.
The bank says the move will allow it to further invest in the North American auto lending market, which will help it grow its consumer loan portfolio. Its shares rose $2.70 to $73.22 as the bank also said it will not issue additional stock to pay for the purchase.
Elsewhere in the sector, Bank of Montreal improved by $1.18 to $57.78. Bank of Montreal said Friday it was buying U.S. lender Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $4.1 billion in stock.
The energy sector rose as Suncor Energy gained 88 cents to $37.52 while Cenovus Energy ran ahead 85 cents to $32.78.
Shares in Ivanhoe Energy surged 29 cents or 11.2% to $2.88 to after the company said it had made a "significant" natural gas discovery at its subsidiary Sunwing’s Yixon-2 well in southwest China.
The base metals sector advanced as the March copper contract in New York added seven cents to $4.28 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources rose $1.17 to $58.68 while Lundin Mining climbed 16 cents to $7.24.
Among technology plays, Celestica Inc. rose 32 cents to $9.95.
Economically speaking, the consumer price index rose 2% in November following a 2.4% gain in October, Statistics Canada said today.
Also, Canadian retail sales increased in October for a fifth straight month, with higher purchases at gasoline stations more than offsetting declines at food, clothing and department stores. StatsCan said sales advanced 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted $36.6 billion
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 8.68 points to 2,155.83, while the Nasdaq Canada index picked up 2.60 points to 747.82
In Toronto, all but two of the 14 subgroups were higher to begin Tuesday. Energy stocks led the brigade, growing 2%, while financials and global base metals moved higher by 1.6% each.
The two laggards were gold and telecoms, off 0.1% each.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose modestly Tuesday but managed to hit their highest levels in more than two years as investors set their sights on 2011.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished the day ahead 55.03 points to 11,533.20
The S&P 500 strengthened 7.52 points to 1,254.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index moved up 18.05 points to 2,667.61, the highest level since December 2007.
Both the blue-chip index and the broader index rose to their highest levels since September 2008 during the session.
Stocks are up about 5% this month, and are poised for double-digit gains for the year. But as investors close out their books leading up to the holidays, the rest of the year is likely to be pretty quiet.
Toyota Motor Corp. -- the Japanese automaker that suffered a series of high-profile recalls -- will pay $32.4 million U.S. in civil penalties, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday. The penalty is the maximum allowed by law. Toyota's stock was up 1% in afternoon trade.
Deutsche Bank AG agreed Tuesday to pay $553.6 million U.S. for taking part in fraudulent federal tax shelters, according to federal regulators. The stock was up 0.4%.
After the closing bell, Nike will report its quarterly results. Analysts expect the sporting giant to report earnings per share of 88 cents U.S., up 12 cents U.S. from the same period last year. Shares were up 1.4%.
After the closing bell on Monday, Adobe Systems reported a profit of $269 million U.S., or 53 cents per share, compared with a loss of $32 million U.S., or six cents U.S. per share, during the same period a year earlier. Shares of Adobe surged 5% in afternoon trade.
There are no major economic reports on tap for the U.S., but The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the population of the United States grew 9.7%, to 308.7 million people over the past decade -- the slowest rate of growth since the Great Depression.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering the yield to 3.33% from Monday’s 3.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery added $1.34 a barrel to $89.72 U.S.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $2.70 to settle $1,388.80 U.S. an ounce.
