Stocks in Toronto found a way into the green by the end of Tuesday’s session, as tech concerns flexed their muscles, health-care stocks also enjoyed gains, and energy continued its downward path.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index emerged on the plus side 7.06 points to conclude business Tuesday at 21,187.84
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.36 cents to 78.35 cents U.S.
Consumer staples provided the biggest downfall for the markets Tuesday, with Saputo heavier $1.35, or 4.4%, to $29.09, while Empire Company sank $1.57, or 3.5%, to $43.01.
Among energy stocks, Suncor set $1.48. or 3.7%, to $37.94, while Imperial Oil doffed $1.90, or 3.4%, to $53.99.
In the communications field, Cogeco Communications pointed downward $2.21, or 2.1%, to $101.14, while Quebecor fell 52 cents, or 1.8%, to $29.25.
Health-care stocks, however, grew, with Canopy Growth taking on 24 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.53, and Cronos Group up 12 cents, or 3.1%, to $3.94.
Among tech concerns, Shopify towered $55.30, or 8.4%, to $712.29, while Lightspeed POS jumped $2.37, or 9.3%, to $27.82.
In discretionary issues, BRP gained $3.33, or 4.1%, to $83.72, while Martinrea International strengthened 32 cents, or 3.9%, to $8.46.
Economically speaking, the Canadian Real Estate Association said home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems climbed 4.6% between January and February.
Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales rose 0.6% in January mostly due to higher sales of petroleum and coal product and wood products.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported the trend in housing starts was 251,579 units in February, down from 253,864 units in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeezed higher 0.76 points to 818.33.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower by the closing bell with consumer staples down 2.1%, energy falling 1.6%, and communications sliding 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by information technology, up 2.4%, health-care haler by 1.1%, and consumer discretionary stocks, improved 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose on Tuesday for its first gain in four days, as oil prices continued to drop further below $100 and a reading of wholesale inflation came in lighter than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 599.10 points, or 1.8%, to close Tuesday at 33.544.34.
The much-broader index recovered 89.34 points, or 2.1%, to 4,262.45.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 367.4 points, or 2.9%, to 12,948.62.
The gains came as traders continued to eye the latest with ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine and China COVID lockdowns that could wreak havoc on tech supply chains.
Investors were anticipating a big Federal Reserve monetary decision Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to hike rates for the first time since 2018.
Tech stocks led the bounce after recent losses. Microsoft and Netflix each rose 3.8% after Wall Street analysts reiterated their overweight ratings. Oracle climbed 4.5%. Chipmakers climbed, with Nvidia 7.7% higher and Advanced Micro Devices up 6.9%.
Disney and McDonald’s added 4% and 2.8%, respectively. Peloton jumped 11.9% after Bernstein initiated coverage of it with an outperform rating and said recent losses make this an “absurdly attractive” entry poi
A surge in energy prices in February led wholesale goods prices to their biggest one-month jump on record, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The headline producer price index (PPI) rose 0.8% in February from the previous month. While that was slightly lower than the 0.9% estimated by Dow Jones, it still showed a 10% gain from the same time last year.
However, core PPI, which excludes food, energy and trade services, rose just 0.2%. That was below the expectation of 0.6%.
In Ukraine, the capital city of Kyiv announced a 35-hour curfew that begins at 8 p.m. local time following Russian missile strikes that hit several residential buildings in the city.
Russia and Ukraine were set to continue talks Tuesday, following a fourth round of negotiations Monday. Meanwhile, Russia is approaching a series of deadlines to make payments on its debt.
Treasury prices lost the gains they’d accumulated during the day, raising yields to 2.16% from Monday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended $7.76 to $95.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices ditched $43.40 to $1,917.40 U.S. an ounce.