Equities in Toronto continued to make headway approaching noon EDT on Tuesday, aided by gains in technology stocks and pot producers,
although concerns around soaring inflation and a global slowdown capped the rise.
The S&P/TSX zoomed 260.99 points or 1.3%, to break for lunch at 20,467.40
The Canadian dollar cleared breakeven 0.06 cents at 77.88 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks jumped with Canopy Growth up 21 cents, or 2.9%, to $7.56, Aurora Cannabis better by 19 cents, or 5%, to $3.98, and Cronos
Group ahead 13 cents, or 3%, to $4.54.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported foreign investors acquired $46.9 billion of Canadian securities in March, the largest investment since April 2020.
At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $24.0 billion, following a $9.9-billion divestment in February.
Meanwhile, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts spiked 8% over a month earlier to 267,330 units in April above market expectations of 246,400 units.
CHMC also said urban starts surged by 10% to 245,324 units in April, as multi-unit urban starts climbed by 14% to 178,092 units and single-detached urban starts increased by 1% to 67,232 units
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 11.14 points, or 1.6%, to 711.68.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were still ahead of the game midday, health-care haler 2.9%, energy 2.3% more energetic, and consumer discretionary stocks hiking 1.3%.
The two laggards were consumer staples, backing off 0.7%, and gold, lower 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were higher on Tuesday as the market tried to bounce from a punishing bear market for the tech-heavy NASDAQ and a sharp pullback for the S&P 500.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their highs of the morning, but stayed positive 176.97 points, to 32,400.39.
The S&P 500 leaped 47.38 points, or 1.2%, to 4,055.39
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 197.39 points, or 1.7%, to 11,860.18.
Those gains marked the market’s latest attempt at a recovery following weeks of steep losses. The S&P 500 is coming off a six-week losing streak — its longest since 2011. The Dow, meanwhile, has fallen for seven straight weeks, marking its longest weekly slide since 2001.
Shares of Home Depot and Walmart diverged after the two major consumer names posted earnings. Home Depot shares rose more than 3% after the home improvement retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results. The company also raised its full-year outlook.
At the same time, Walmart shares dropped more than 5% after the retail giant reported an earnings miss because of rising prices. The company raised its sales outlook, but lowered its profit forecast.
Shares of Citigroup and Paramount Global surged on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed its holdings in the two companies. Citigroup jumped 6% after Warren Buffett’s conglomerate revealed it added a nearly $3 billon stake in the struggling bank during the first quarter.
Citi shares have underperformed the rest of the financial sector in the past 12 months, down nearly 40% while the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund is off by 12% over the same period.
Meanwhile, shares of Paramount Global also surged nearly 13% after Berkshire built a stake worth $2.6 billion in the company as of the end of March.
Semiconductor stocks climbed. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices jumped more than 4% following an upgrade from Piper Sandler, which said the stock looked attractive after falling 34.5% this year. Nvidia’s stock price rose 3%, Qualcomm’s jumped 2.4% and Micron Technology’s rose 2%.
Travel stocks popped after United Airlines raised its revenue outlook for the second quarter on improved consumer demand. United Airlines’ stock price rose 4%, Delta’s jumped 3% and American Airlines’ advanced 3%.
On the economic front, retail sales numbers came in about as expected. Consumer spending on retail rose 0.9% in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Retail sales excluding autos rose 0.6% in April.
Investors will also be monitoring comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell who will speak on the central bank’s plans to address inflation at a Wall Street Journal conference at 2 p.m. ET.
On the economic front, retail sales numbers came in about as expected. Consumer spending on retail rose 0.9% in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They rose 0.4% excluding spending on autos.
Treasury prices sagged, raising yields to 2.97% from Monday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 40 cents at $113.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $2.90 to $1,816.90 U.S. an ounce.
