Equities in Canada’s largest market resumed a recent rally on Tuesday, stoked by gains among heavyweight banking and energy stocks, while materials stocks weighed.
The S&P/TSX Composite hiked 94.57 points to greet noon to 15,382.27
The Canadian dollar nosed up 0.01 cents to 76.22 cents U.S.
Husky Energy added 1% to $17.06 after raising its 2017 production forecast and saying it would set aside more money for capital expenditure as its board had sanctioned several new projects.
Canadian Natural Resources rose 1% to $17.06 a day after announcing the sale of its stake in the Cold Lake pipeline while maintaining access to the route to move its crude.
The financials group gained with Toronto-Dominion Bank up 0.8% to $65.98 and Royal Bank of Canada up 0.7% to $90.92.
Industrials rose as Canadian National Railway bounced 0.9% to $90.32.
Teck Resources fell 5% to $28.60. Japan's biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel said on Tuesday it has agreed on a coking coal price for first quarter of 2017 with Glencore Plc and Teck that is 43% higher than the previous quarter.
Fertilizer makers Agrium Inc and Potash Corp both fell sharply after recent strong gains. AltaCorp downgraded Agrium on Monday after the stock's recent rally.
Agrium forfeited $4.26, or 3%, to $135.94, while Potash gave up 87 cents, or 3.4%, to $24.51.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed positive 0.85 points to 754.56
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were stronger midday, with energy and information technology each higher 1.5%, and consumer staples growing 1.2%
The three laggards were materials, down 0.9%, real-estate, off 0.2%, and health-care, ailing 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Tuesday as investors kept an eye on a key Federal Reserve meeting, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed in on another milestone.
The Dow Jones Industrials added to Monday’s all-time high, strengthening 99.21 points to 19,895.64, with IBM contributing the most gains.
The Dow had gained 13.6% for the year, as of Monday's close, with a large part of those gains coming after Donald Trump stunned the world by winning the U.S. presidency.
Monday saw the 15th record close for the blue-chip index since the Nov. 8 vote.
The S&P 500 gained 14.16 points to 2,271.12, with information technology gaining 1.3% to lead all sectors higher.
The NASDAQ composite index recovered 65.21 points to 5,477.75, to a new all-time high of its own.
Investors also kept a close eye on the Fed as it began a two-day monetary policy meeting, with most market participants expecting the central bank to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. Experts put market expectations for a rate hike above 90%.
The meeting is expected to conclude Wednesday, with Fed Chair Janet Yellen scheduled to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
In economic news, the November read on the NFIB Small Business index came in at 98.4, above October's 94.9. Meanwhile, import prices fell 0.3% in November.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note sagged, raising yields to 2.49% from Monday’s 2.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices reacquired nine cents to $52.92 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices docked $7.40 to $1,158.40 U.S. an ounce.
