Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as a tightening oil supply, triggered partly by a production problem at one of the country's largest oil sands facilities, helped drive gains in energy shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index popped 102.59 points, after Monday’s hefty fall, to greet noon at 16,286.55
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 75.24 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy gained $1.36, or 2.6%, to $52.80, and Enbridge acquired 61 cents, or 1.5%, to $42.17. Such hikes boosted the energy sector.
The biggest percentage gainers on the TSX were Alacer Gold, which jumped 3.5 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.59, and Shopify, which rose $2.99, or 1.5%, to $206.59.
Torex Gold Resources, however, fought its way out of the cellar, gaining eight cents to $11.90, while Cameco Corp slumped 25 cents, or 1.7%, to $14.58.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz is under pressure to justify another rate hike or risk credibility by changing course, with a clear-cut case for higher rates endangered by a raging trade war with the United States.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backtracked 6.49 points to 743.78
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive as the clock approached noon, with energy gushing 1.7%, telecoms surging 1.1%, and consumer staples up 0.9%
The three laggards were health-care, sliding 1.2%, gold, off 0.2%, and consumer discretionaries behind 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded slightly higher on Tuesday, but mixed messages from the Trump administration regarding trade put a lid on gains.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 45.8 points to 24,298.60, with Visa as the best-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 regained 5.72 points – off its highs of the morning -- to 2,722.79, as tech rose 0.8%.
The NASDAQ recouped 19.55 points to 7,551.56, as Netflix rose 3.4%, rebounding from steep losses in the previous session.
Stocks fell sharply on Monday, with the Dow dropping more than 300 points and the S&P 500 sliding 1.4%, its biggest one-day decline since April 6.
Harley-Davidson declined almost 6%on Monday after announcing it will shift production of motorcycles headed for Europe to factories outside the U.S. Trump went after the motorcycle maker on Tuesday, saying in a tweet "they will be taxed like never before." Shares of Harley-Davidson slipped 2.2%.
General Electric shares jumped more than 6% after the company revealed a plan to spin off its health-care business and sell its stake in Baker Hughes. The company also announced it will maintain its current dividend until the spinoff is complete. GE was also replaced by Walgreens Boots Alliance on the Dow.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet Monday that a report from the Wall Street Journal about the Trump administration planning to curb Chinese investment in U.S. tech was "fake news." Mnuchin added, however, that those restrictions will apply to “all countries that are trying to steal our technology.”
Later on Monday, Peter Navarro, a trade advisor to President Donald Trump, told the media said there were no plans on slapping investment restrictions on China or other countries. He also called the stock market was overreacting to such fears.
However, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders doubled down on Mnuchin’s statement, saying in a press briefing: "As the secretary said, a statement would go out that targets all countries that are trying to steal our technology, and we expect that to be out soon."
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury lost a bit of ground, raising yields to 2.89% from Monday’s 2.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 58 cents to $68.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped eight dollars to $1,260.90 U.S. an ounce.
