Equities in Canada’s biggest market rose broadly on Tuesday, with Canadian National Railway and financial stocks leading some of the advance.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 42.57 points – off its highs of the morning – to reach noon at 15,898.33
The Canadian dollar faded 0.11 cents to 78.97 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources rose 1.6% to $41.79. Oil prices were higher after top exporter Saudi Arabia said it was determined to end a supply glut and forecasters were expecting a further drop in U.S. crude inventories.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, gained as fertilizer maker Potash Corp rose 1.7% to $24.825, while Agrium also advanced 1.7% to $138.55.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd was up 1% to $15.07 after Barclays raised its target price on the company.
Hudson’s Bay Co shares, which surged as much as 8.7% after the company announced an investment deal and the sale of a 5th Ave property, pared earlier gains to trade up 2.1% at $12.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell backward 1.24 points to 783.95
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground Tuesday, with industrials and telecoms each gaining 0.6%, and information technology, up 0.5%.
The two laggards were gold, down 0.6%, with real-estate off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average rose sharply on Tuesday on the back of strong quarterly results from 3M and Caterpillar.
The 30-stock index leaped 190.72 points to 23,464.68, achieving yet another intraday record.
The S&P 500 improved 4.8 points to 2,569.78, with industrials and financials leading advancers. Corning and 3M were the best performers on the index.
The NASDAQ gained 16.67 points to 6,603.49
Caterpillar reported earnings per share of $1.95 on revenue of $11.413 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $1.27 per share on sales of $10.649 billion. Caterpillar shares rose 4.9%.
3M shares rose 7% after the company posted earnings per share of $2.33 on sales of $8.172 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $2.21 per share on revenue of $7.927 billion.
United Technologies, another Dow component, also reported better-than-expected results; its stock rose 0.3% in early trade.
General Motors, Eli Lilly and Polaris Industries also rose after reporting earnings.
After the bell, AT&T, Capital One, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Discover Financial, Juniper Networks and many more are set to report earnings.
In economic news, the flash U.S. Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 55.7 in October, hitting a nine-month high. That release was accompanied by the Richmond Fed survey of manufacturing activity, which showed a slowdown in manufacturing activity in October.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note settled, raising yields to 2.41% from Monday’s 2.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 48 cents a barrel to $52.38 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $3.30 an ounce to $1,277.60 U.S.
