Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday after notching its lowest close in more than two years in the previous session, as Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said interest rate hikes could be interrupted amid signs of slowing growth and low oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained solvent 77.22 points to greet noon 14,439.87
The Canadian dollar eased 0.25 cents to 74.30 U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Aphria, which jumped 46 cents, or 6.3%, to $7.78, after the cannabis company's license for an oral drug delivery system expanded to Germany.
The second-biggest gainer was Shopify Inc, which rose $6.23, or 3.6%, to $180.03, after Wells Fargo initiated with an "outperform" rating on the e-commerce company's shares.
CES Energy Solutions Corp fell 9.5 cents, or 2.9%, the most on the TSX, to $3.13. The second-biggest decliner was TFI International Inc, down 75 cents or 2%, to $36.70, as National Bank of Canada downgraded the transportations and logistics company's stock to "sector perform".
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said on Monday that the pace of interest rate hikes in Canada could be interrupted or sped up depending on the economic circumstances.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the number of Canadians drawing regular employment insurance benefits fell for a third consecutive month, down 6,500 or 1.5% from September to 439,600 in October.
Elsewhere, manufacturing sales edged down 0.1% in October to $58.2 billion, following four increases in the previous five months.
Lower sales at wood product and primary metal industries were largely offset by higher sales at food and machinery industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backtracked 2.37 points to 544.42
Nine of the 12 TSX subgroups remained positive midday, as gold sprinted 2.5%, information technology strengthened 2.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks were bolstered 1.9%.
The three laggards were health-care, down 0.7%, while energy lost 0.5%, and utilities sank 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rebounded Tuesday, recovering some of the steep losses of the prior trading session that sent both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 down more than 2%.
The Dow recovered 308.75 points, or 1.3%, by noon to 23,901.73, led higher by gains in Boeing and Johnson & Johnson.
The S&P 500 gained 25.2 points, or 1%, to 2,571.14, after falling to a new closing low and touching a new intraday low for 2018 on Monday on fears the Federal Reserve is going too far with its rate-hiking plans.
The NASDAQ popped 86.45 points, or 1.3%, to 6,840.19, as Amazon, Apple and Netflix — which were hit hard on Monday — all traded higher. Facebook stock rallied 3.6% while Google-parent Alphabet added 3.1%.
Beaten-down chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices both rallied more than 3.5%. E-commerce giant Amazon — which sank nearly 4.5% on Monday — rallied 1.7% Aircraft and aerospace manufacturer Boeing jumped 4.4% after hiking its dividend by 20%.
Also helping sentiment was White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who said that the Trump administration wants to avoid a partial government shutdown and has found alternative revenues to build President Donald Trump’s border wall.
The Dow and S&P 500, which are both in corrections, are on track for their worst December performance since the Great Depression in 1931, down more than 7% so far for the month. The S&P 500 is now in the red for 2018 by 4%.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike its benchmark overnight lending rate for a fourth and final time of 2018 when it concludes a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
Stocks of energy companies fell across the board as oil prices sank 5% to a 15-month low on Tuesday. Exxon Mobil fell 1.5%, Chevron lost 1.1% and ConocoPhillips dropped 1.4% as the U.S. and Russia continue to pump at record levels ahead of planned output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury grew, lowering yields to 2.83% from Monday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices dropped $2.43 to $47.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained 30 cents to $1,252.10 U.S. an ounce.
