Equities in Canada’s largest centre recovered some of their strength – and pride – after the last few days of bruising losses, brought on by the weakness in the U.S. banking sector.
The TSX gained 105.26 points, off its highs of the day, to close Tuesday at 19,694.16.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.34 cents to 73.11 cents U.S.
Techs proved the champions Tuesday, with Enghouse Systems ahead $2.25, or 6.3%, to close at $37.89, while HUT 8 Mining grew 18 cents, or 8.7%, to $2.26.
Next in line were real-estate plays, led by Colliers International, zooming $5.46, or 3.7%, to $152.43, while Granite REIT pumped up $1.93.
Metals jumped, led by Stelco, strengthening $2.94, or 5.2%, to $59.04, while Ivanhoe Mines increased 41 cents, or 3.7%, to $11.57.
Energy paled, however, with Precision Drilling waning $3.41, or 4.7%, to $68.84, while Crescent Point Energy doffed 25 cents, or 2.8%, to $8.66.
Among industrials, Ritchie Bros. dwindled $2.02, or 2.7%, to $72.76, while Canadian National Railways faltered $1.54, or nearly 1%, to $158.09.
In the health-care sector, Tilray docked a nickel , or 1.5%, to $3.28, while Bausch Health Companies lost eight cents to $10.84.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales increased 4.1% in January, primarily on higher sales in the petroleum and coal product, motor vehicle and food industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.17 points to 611.03.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by the closing bell, led by information technology ahead 1.9%, real-estate, up 0.8%, and materials, improving 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy, stalling 1.3%, while industrials and health-care stocks dawdled 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose Tuesday as investors bet the risk of contagion following the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank appeared to have been contained.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 336.26 points, or 1.1%, to 32,293.80, to end a slump of five straight days.
The S&P 500 leaped 64.8 points, or 1.7%, to 3,920.56.
The NASDAQ Composite 239.31 points, or 2.1%, to 11,428.15.
Investors’ enthusiasm for buying bank stocks lost some steam in the afternoon. But many still notched gains, marking a turn from two sessions of deep selloffs as investors became increasingly confident that those names wouldn’t suffer the same fate as Silicon Valley and Signature. Regulators said Sunday that they created a plan to backstop all depositors in the two banks.
Shares of First Republic Bank popped nearly 27% after closing down nearly 62% on Monday. KeyCorp shares added almost 7% in a relief bounce following a 27% slide.
Meantime, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department are investigating how Silicon Valley Bank became the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The consumer price index rose 0.4% in February from January, matching the consensus estimate of economists polled by Dow Jones. The annualized increase of 6% was also in line with economists’ expectations. So-called “core” CPI, which removed volatile food and energy prices, grew from the prior month slightly more than economists expected at 0.5%, while the year-over-year increase of 5.5% came in line with what they anticipated.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury tumbled, raising yields to 3.68% from Monday’s 3.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices erased $3.31 to $71.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices floundered $8.30 to $1,908.20 U.S. an ounce.