Canada’s main stock index remained buoyant by noon EST on Tuesday, lifted by mining shares, with investors awaiting key U.S. and domestic economic data as well as political changes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plan to resign.
The TSX strengthened 60.75 points midday Tuesday at 25,060.54.
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 69.72 cents U.S.
In corporate news, GFL Environmental said it would sell its environmental services division to Apollo Global Management and BC Partners in a deal valued at $8 billion. GFL shares dived 63 cents, or 1%, to $62.46.
Gold stocks provided much of the upward momentum, particularly Aya Gold & Silver, up 39 cents, or 3.7%, to $11.07, while Novagold gained 20 cents, or 4.3%, to $4.91.
In other metals, First Majestic Silver tacked on 33 cents, or 4%, to $8.64, while Fortuna Silver Mines grabbed 22 cents, or 3.5%, to $6.52.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported in November, Canada’s merchandise exports increased 2.2% and imports rose 1.8%. As a result, Canada’s merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $544 million in October to $323 million in November.
The IVEY PMI moved ahead to 54.7 in December, from 52.3 in November, well off the 56.3 reading of December 2023.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 0.83 points to 617.36.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green Tuesday morning, led by gold, brighter by 2.3%, energy, soaring 1.6%, and materials, up 1.5%.
The lone holdouts were information technology, scaling back 1.7%, and real-estate, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 traded lower on Tuesday, giving up an earlier gain, as fresh economic data led to a spike in Treasury yields and raised questions about the possibility of Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 39.53 points to 42,746.09.
The much-broader index backpedaled 22.3 points to 5,953.08.
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 207.02 points, or 1%, to 19,659.69.
Stocks on Tuesday were also dragged by a dip in shares of Nvidia, which fell more than 4.5% after hitting a record. The company on Monday had unveiled new chips for desktop and laptop PCs that use the same Blackwell architecture. Tesla slipped nearly 3% after Bank of America downgraded the electric vehicle maker given its high valuation and risks associated with its strategy.
Other megacap tech stocks slipped into the red amid the market’s broader decline. Meta Platforms and Amazon shed roughly 2.4% and 1.6%, respectively.
Data released on Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management reflected faster-than-expected growth in the U.S. services sector in December, adding to concerns about stickier inflation.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped sharply, raising yields to 4.69% from Monday’s 4.61 %. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices surged 74 cents to $74.30 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold revived $18.50 an ounce to $2,665.60 U.S.
