Stocks in Canada’s largest market jumped Tuesday, keeping its upward momentum going, as the outlook for the coronavirus pandemic lifting seemed to improve.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off its highs of the morning and remained positive 182.49 points, or 1.3%, to finish Tuesday at 14,258.43
The Canadian dollar faded 0.01 cents to 72.03 cents U.S.
Tech stocks led the brigade, with Shopify towering over the group, gaining $70.51, or 11.4%, to $691.02, while Lightspeed POS jumped $2.53, or 13.7%, to $21.01.
Among health-care issues, Aphria climbed 25 cents, or 5.2%, to $5.06, while Cronos Group hiked 28 cents, or 3.5%, to $8.34.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.09 points, or 1.9%, to 445.25
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, with information technology climbing 5.3%, health-care was up 3.3%, and consumer discretionary, ahead 1.5%.
Only energy went south, and 1.6% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks jumped on Tuesday, resuming the market’s sharp rebound from last month’s lows, as investors grew more optimistic about the coronavirus outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial screamed higher 542.23 points, or 2.3%, to 23,933. Raytheon Technologies was the best-performing stock in the Dow with a 5.2% gain.
The S&P 500 recovered 84.43 points, or 3.1%, to 2,846.06, led higher by 4% rallies in tech, consumer discretionary and consumer staples.
The NASDAQ Composite vaulted 323.32 points, or 4%, to 8,515.74. The tech-heavy NASDAQ notched its first four-day winning streak since early February.
The corporate earnings season kicked off on Tuesday with JPMorgan Chase and Johnson & Johnson reporting their latest quarterly results, giving investors their first look at how devastating the hit to corporations has been from the pandemic.
JPMorgan Chase reported a big profit decline for the first quarter. Johnson & Jonson shares gained 4.8% on better-than-expected earnings. Johnson & Johnson also said it could produce up to 900 coronavirus vaccine doses by April 2021, depending on how trials go.
Wells Fargo, meanwhile, reported first-quarter profits well short of expectations as the San Francisco-based bank set aside cash for credit losses amid the coronavirus pandemic. It reported earnings of 1 cent per share, below analyst estimates of 33 cents per share.
Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings growth to decline 10.2% in the first quarter year-over-year, according to Refinitiv. There is also an unusually wide range of estimates given the unprecedented uncertainty from the coronavirus.
For the first quarter, 88 negative earnings pre-announcements have been issued by S&P 500 corporations, according to Refinitiv. A wave of major companies have already withdrawn their full-year guidance.
The number of coronavirus cases continues to rise globally. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows there are more than 1.9 million cases around the world, with over 582,000 in the U.S.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 0.75% from Monday’s 0.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid $1.72 to $20.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell back $6.20 to $1,755.20 U.S. an ounce.
