Gold stocks and a positive earnings report from Canadian Pacific Railway led the TSX to a small gain Tuesday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 10.93 points to greet noon at 12,826.84
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.27 cents to 99.66 cents U.S.
Traders also looked to a raft of economic data coming down this week that could provide the impetus for further advances on North American markets, which are set to close out January trading with solid gains.
CP says its profit was cut to $15 million or eight cents per share in the fourth quarter amid a number of restructuring expenses. On an adjusted basis, Canadian Pacific says it earned $1.28 per share, in line with analyst estimates and its shares climbed $3.26 to $116.03.
In the gold sector, Goldcorp Inc. gained 74 cents to $36.25.
The base metals sector was up with March copper on the Nymex flat at $3.66 U.S. a pound. Thompson Creek Metals gained four cents to $4.14.
The energy sector was slightly lower Cenovus Energy gained 15 cents to $33.83.
The information technology sector was the leading decliner, down two per cent as investors continued to take profits from Research In Motion Ltd.’s spectacular runup this month ahead of the unveiling of its BlackBerry 10 lineup Wednesday in New York.
RIM stock fell 85 cents or 5.2% to $15.42 on top of a 7.6% slide Monday. As of Friday, RIM stock had soared 50% during January.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, shares in Metro Inc. gained 34 cents to $64.46 as the grocer increased its quarterly dividend to 25 cents from 21.5 cents. Metro is posting quarterly earnings Tuesday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 8.17 points to 1,226.05
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher midday, led by industrials, up 1.2%, gold, up 0.7%, and global base metals, ahead 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed by information technology, sinking 2.1%, while real-estate issues and consumer staples each backtracked 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were mixed Tuesday, after economic data and a slew of corporate earnings failed to impress investors.
Still, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51.95 points, to go into lunch hour at 13,933.90
The S&P 500 tacked on 5.39 points to 1,505.57. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite slid 3.35 – off its lows of the day -- to 3,150.95
After their recent four-week winning streak, investors say stocks, which are hovering around five-year highs, may be due for a pullback.
Ford was a major drag on the broader market. The car company posted higher fourth-quarter income and sales, boosted by strong results in North America. But worse-than-expected weakness from Europe weighed on Ford's shares, which slid more than 4%.
Drug companies fared better. Shares of Pfizer inched higher on better-than-expected quarterly results, as did rival Eli Lilly and Co, which also reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that topped expectations.
Glass maker Corning's stock jumped after the company delivered earnings and sales ahead of forecasts.
Shares of data storage equipment maker EMC plunged after the company's earnings outlook fell short of estimates.
Shares of Apple gained nearly 1%, after the company announced a new iPad with more storage.
Yahoo shares rose after the company posted earnings that beat expectations late Tuesday.
Shares of VMWare dropped nearly 20% after the company lowered its 2013 guidance and announce a strategic restructuring.
Amazon.com results are due after the closing bell.
On the economic front, while the Case-Shiller home price index beat expectations, the Conference Board's monthly Consumer Confidence Index came in far below forecasts.
Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities were up 5.5% in November compared to a year earlier, their biggest jump in more than six years.
Tuesday also marks the start of the Federal Reserve's first monetary policy meeting of the year. At the conclusion of the two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon, investors will look for clues from the central bank's statement for when the bond buying program could end.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury drooped, raising yields back to Monday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.11 to $97.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $7.80 to $1,660.70 U.S. an ounce.
