Equities in Canada’s largest market still had some ground to dig out of before making it into the green, as industrials and tech stocks overcame gains by gold and utility plays.
The S&P/TSX Composite finished negative 19.16 points – off its lows of the day -- to end Tuesday and January at 15,385.96. For the month, the index rose 1%.
The Canadian dollar bolted 0.47 cents at 76.78 cents U.S.
Industrials proved among the biggest loser, as Bombardier finished flat at $2.49 a share, while Air Canada slid 16 cents, or 1.2%, to $13.37.
Among tech issues, BlackBerry dipped nine cents, or nearly 1%, to $9.18, while Constellation Software dived $4.30 to $587.73.
Financials also took a pasting, as CIBC doffed $1.44, or 1.3%, to $110.81, while Toronto-Dominion settled 50 cents to $67.41.
Gold, however, picked up much of the slack, as Detour Gold roared ahead $1.85, or 11.7%, to $17.65, while Kinross Gold moved higher 21 cents, or 4.3%, to $5.07.
Utilities also improved, as Hydro One jumped 42 cents, or 1.8%, to $24.05, while Fortis Inc. prospered 83 cents, or 2%, to $41.84.
Materials stocks also strengthened, as Cameco acquired four cents to $16.57, while First Quantum Minerals gained 45 cents, or 2.8%, to $16.41.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that November gross domestic product rose for the fifth time in six months, up 0.4% in November.
The nation’s number-crunchers said the hike was powered by higher output in manufacturing, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, finance and insurance and construction.
The agency also said its industrial product price index rose 0.4% in December, led mainly by higher prices for energy and petroleum products.
The raw materials price index increased 6.5%, mainly due to higher prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained afloat 5.1 points to 807.34
The 12 subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, as gold soared 2.2%, utilities clicked 1.5%, and materials strengthened 1.2%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by industrials and information technology stocks, each down 0.8%, while financials were the poorer by 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed mostly lower on Tuesday, but recorded monthly gains, as investors continued to evaluate the latest policies from the White House, while a slew of companies posted quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrials were off their lows of the day, but still off 107.04 points to 19,864.09, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses. The index gained 0.5% over January.
The S&P 500 moved to within 2.03 points of breakeven to 2,278.87, with industrials leading decliners. But the index finished January up 1.8%,
The NASDAQ fought its way into positive territory 1.07 points to 5,614.79, leading to a monthly gain of 4.3%.
Investors also had to contend with several quarterly reports from major companies. Under Armour shares tanked more than 20% after the firm missed Wall Street estimates on sales and profit.
Dow component Exxon Mobil's also reported quarterly results. The firm said its U.S. upstream business lost $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, while its downstream segment made $1.2 billion. Firms scheduled to report after the close Tuesday include tech giant Apple, U.S. Steel and Anadarko Petroleum.
In economic news, U.S. labour costs rose less than expected in the fourth quarter, pointing to low inflation even as anecdotal evidence suggests that wage growth is picking up as the labour market tightens.
The U.S. Labor Department said the Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labour costs, increased 0.5% after rising 0.6% in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index adjusted January index reading came in at 50.3, below December's 53.9. Consumer confidence hit 111.8, below an estimate of 113.
Investors also kept an eye on the Federal Reserve as the U.S. central bank kicked off its first monetary policy meeting of the year. The Fed is scheduled to release its latest policy decision on Wednesday, with market participants largely expecting interest rates to remain unchanged.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order that aims at dramatically slashing regulations. That said, investors and traders around the globe focused on another executive order — signed late Friday — that barred entry of certain nationals into the U.S.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, lowering yields to 2.45%, from Monday’s 2.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 18 cents to $52.81 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $17.60 to $1,213.60 U.S. an ounce.
