Equity markets in Canada opened higher on Tuesday, supported by gains in technology and mining shares, with investors assessing U.S. producer price data to gauge the Federal Reserve's interest rate path this year.
The TSX nosed ahead 3.26 points soon after Tuesday’s open to 24,539.58.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.13 cents at 69.49 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold on Tuesday confirmed it had suspended operations in Mali and that the government had moved gold stock from the miner's Loulo-Gounkoto site to a bank.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.39 points to 602.16.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground in Tuesday’s first hour, with health-care sagging 2.2%, gold. sinking 2%, and energy, off 1.8%.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 0.5%, materials, stronger by 0.4%, and consumer discretionary stocks, eking up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were higher Tuesday after the producer price index, the first of two major inflation reports this week, came in cooler than forecasted.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 156.08 points to 42,453.20
The S&P 500 Index gained 21.06 points to 5,857.28.
The NASDAQ hiked 101.24 points to 19,189.34.
Some big tech stocks managed to climb higher, putting the sector in the green Tuesday morning, after suffering losses on Monday and the previous week as investors traded out of the sector. Tesla and Palantir rose around 3% each.
On the earnings front, banking behemoths will kick off fourth-quarter earnings season this week, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo posting results on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are slated to report on Thursday.
The producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, increased just 0.2% in December, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated a 0.4% rise. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was flat.
Investors are now looking toward Wednesday’s consumer price index report for insights on the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rate policy.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sank, lifting yields to 4.80% from Monday’s 4.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tailed off $1.20 to $77.62 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold recovered $5.30 an ounce to $2,683.90 U.S.
