Equities in Toronto rose in early trade on Tuesday, boosted by a rebound in energy stocks and further gains for financials, while a report of a possible merger sent shares of two fertilizer companies soaring.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 49.43 points to greet noon at 14,731.40
The Canadian dollar faded 0.32 cents at 76.53 cents U.S.
Bank of Nova Scotia was one of the biggest gainers, with the country's third-biggest lender up 1.5% at $69.92 after reporting earnings above expectations even as it reins in domestic mortgage lending.
Shares of fertilizer companies Potash Corp and Agrium Inc jumped after Bloomberg reported that the two are in talks to merge.
Potash Corp was up 11.5% at $23.30 and Agrium rose 7.1% to $124.81 before both stocks were halted.
Suncor Energy added 0.4% to $36.28 and Encana rose 1.2% to $13.10.
Mining stocks were the main drag, with Barrick Gold off 2.6% at $23.33. Goldcorp lost 2.5% to $20.72 as gold prices fell.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index rose 0.2% in July. Higher prices for primary non-ferrous metal products were largely moderated by a decline in prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index decreased 2.7%, as a result of lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 6.17 points to 799.76
Seven of the 12 subgroups were higher by noon, as industrials climbed 0.9%, financials grew 0.7%, and energy moved 0.5% higher.
The five laggards were held down by gold, off 2.2%, while consumer staples and real-estate each shed 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks stateside traded lower Tuesday as investors analyzed strong consumer data while keeping an eye on Apple shares and the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed negative 43.56 points to 18,459.43, with Boeing leading decliners and Goldman Sachs the top advancer.
The S&P 500 gave back 3.06 points to 2,177.32, with utilities leading eight sectors lower and financials and materials as the only advancers.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 8.16 points to 5,224.16
Apple was on Wall Street's radar, as the Dow component slipped 0.7% after the European Commission ordered Ireland to recover more than $14.5 billion U.S. in back taxes from the tech giant.
The consumer confidence index for August rose to 101.1, with economists seeing the number come in at 97.
Other data released Tuesday included the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index, which rose 5.1% year over year, versus expectations of 5.2%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Monday’s 1.57%.
Oil prices settled 56 cents at $46.42 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices subtracted $6.90 at $1,320.20 U.S. an ounce.
