Stocks in Toronto gained ground quite hesitantly Tuesday, as gains in the energy stocks were capped by weakness in materials sectors, while concerns around a fast-spreading mutant variant of coronavirus in the United Kingdom kept sentiment in check.
The TSX gained 29.13 points late Tuesday morning at 17,530.02.
The Canadian dollar backpedaled 0.38 cents to 77.42 cents U.S.
Ontario on Monday announced a partial shutdown of some businesses starting Saturday (Boxing Day) and banned most indoor gatherings as the country’s most populous province struggles to control a second wave of COVID-19.
The biggest gainer on the TSX was Lightspeed POS, which rose $7.28, or 9.4% to $85.00, after brokerage Credit Suisse started coverage of the stock with an outperform rating.
Canada Goose Holdings fell $1.08, or 2.6%, the most on the TSX, to $40.07, and the second biggest decliner was Air Canada, down 54 cents, or 2.4%, to $21.96.
On the economic platform, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours as payroll employment—continued to rise in October, up by 183,700 (or 1.2%) from the previous month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.98 points to 829.67.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups jumped, as information technology gained 2.7%, utilities added 0.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks picked up 0.6%. .
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2%, materials, down 1.8%,, and energy, fading 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 held steady on Tuesday after Congress approved a long-delayed coronavirus relief package.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off its lows of the morning, but still trailed Monday’s close by 79.24 points to 30,137.21,
The S&P 500 dropped 1.21 points to 3,693.61
The NASDAQ gained 41.24 points to 12,783.76, supported by a 4% jump in Apple shares.
Congressional leaders attached $900 billion in pandemic aid to a $1.4 trillion measure to fund the government through Sept. 30. President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law in the coming days, weeks before he will leave office. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the media on Monday that Americans could receive their stimulus checks in a matter of days.
The market started the holiday week on a sour note as fears about a new variant of COVID-19 in the U.K. emerged. Many European countries implemented travel restrictions on visitors from the U.K., and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the United States to take similar steps.
Travel-related stocks came under pressure once again amid lingering concerns about the new virus strain. American Airlines and United fell more than 1% each, while Carnival and Royal Caribbean both dropped more than 2%. Norwegian Cruise Line traded 3% lower.
However, many experts, including those from the World Health Organization, said that the coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna would likely be effective against the new variant and that COVID was mutating at a slower pace than the seasonal flu.
On the data front, the final reading on third-quarter gross domestic product came to a growth of 33.4% on an annualized basis, compared to 33.1% expected.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury dropped bit, raising yields back to Monday’s 0.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 60 cents to $47.37 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $17.40 to $1,877.20.