Canada's main stock index remained in plus territory as morning became afternoon on Tuesday, propelled mostly by health-care, and also buoyed by strong performances from information technology issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 55.27 points to move into noon hour Tuesday 16,093.40
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.2 cents at 74.91 cents U.S.
Among the all-stars in the health sector, Aurora Cannabis climbed 68 cents, or 7.1%, to $10.28, while rival Canopy Growth took on 59 cents, or nearly 1%, to $62.98.
In the tech sector, BlackBerry obtained two cents to $11.66, while Shopify zoomed $3.24, or 1.3%, to $251.45
In the industrial sector, Canadian Pacific Railway jumped $2.55 to $278.30, while Bombardier eked up a penny to $2.93.
One of the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was MAG Silver Corp, which rose 22 cents, or 1.8%, to $12.75. Endeavor Mining collected 37 cents, or 1.9%, to $20.22.
Transcontinental Inc fell 59 cents, or 3.1%, the most on the TSX, to $18.17.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 1.58 points to 624.08
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by noon, with health-care soaring 2.4%, while information technology and industrials each better by 0.6%.
Only utilities were negative, and only 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks in the States were fairly static by midday on Tuesday as investors weighed ongoing trade negotiations between China and the U.S. along with strong earnings from Target.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged by noon to 25,818.89, as shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance dipped more than 1%.
The S&P 500 faded 1.46 points to 2,791.35
The NASDAQ Composite gained 5.74 points to 7,583.31
On Tuesday, investors cheered stronger-than-expected quarterly results out of retailer Target, sending its shares up around 4%. The company posted earnings per share of $1.53 and revenue of $22.977 billion. Both numbers topped analyst estimates.
Target's same-store sales, a key metric watched by Wall Street, rose 4%. The company also said its digital sales grew by more than 25%.
On the economic front, federal budget figures are due to be released at 2 p.m. ET.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday he thought the two countries were "on the cusp" of reaching a deal that would end the trade skirmish.
Pompeo's comments come after sources told media outlets that U.S.-China trade negotiations are in the "final stages" and that a summit in Mar-a-Lago later this month could close the deal.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped a bit, raising yields to 2.74% from Monday’s 2.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost four cents to $56.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved lower three dollars to $1,284.50 U.S. an ounce.
