Canadian stocks were trading higher Tuesday morning amid steady commodities, with better-than-expected U.S. retail sales and inflation data, and easing concerns about a Greek exit from the euro zone bolstering investors' appetite for risk. Furthermore, a key survey from across the Atlantic revealed German investor confidence improved for a second month in October.
Today's data from south of the border also came in encouraging, with US homebuilders confidence rising to a new six-year high and industrial production moving up in the month of September.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 133.44 points or 1.09 percent to 12,363.39.
The Diversified Materials Index rose nearly 2 percent, with First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Teck Resources (TCK_B.TO) and Inmet Mining (IMN.TO) gathering around 2 percent each.
The price of crude oil was ticking lower Tuesday morning on supply concerns after the EU imposed new sanctions on Iran. Crude for November delivery edged down $0.06 to $91.79 a barrel.
In the oil patch, Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Niko Resources (NKO.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) rose around 2 percent each.
The price of gold was recovering from its one-month low Tuesday morning as the U.S. dollar was struggling versus a basket of currencies amid the release of inflation data. Gold for December added $8.50 to $1,746.10 an ounce.
Among gold plays, Royal Gold (RGL.TO), Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Goldcorp. (G.TO) and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) gathered around 2 percent each.
Meanwhile, metals mining company Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC.TO) lost over 3 percent after reporting first-quarter net loss of $1.2 million or $0.02 per share, compared to $2.1 million or $0.02 per share last year.
Gold miner Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.TO) slipped 2 percent after it said its rejected the hostile offer by Inmet Mining Corp. (IMN.TO) to acquire all of its outstanding common shares in exchange of 0.0109 Inmet shares and $0.001 in cash; or a amount not more than $0.48 per Petaquilla share.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said non-resident investors acquired $6.9 billion of Canadian securities in August, with focus turning to debt instruments from equity. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $1.7 billion, following three straight months of acquisition.
Separately, the agency revealed that manufacturing sales increased 1.5 percent to $49.5 billion in August, the highest sales level since March 2012. The gain largely reflected increases in the petroleum and coal products, and motor vehicle industries. Manufacturers in 11 out of 21 industries reported higher sales, representing over three quarters of total manufacturing.
From the U.S., the Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.6 percent in September, matching the increase seen in August. Economists had been expecting prices to increase by about 0.5 percent. Excluding the jump in energy prices as well as a modest increase in food prices, the core consumer price index edged up by 0.1 percent for the third straight month. The core index had been expected to rise by about 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a report showing that U.S. industrial production rose by more than expected in the month of September. The Fed said industrial production increased by 0.4 percent in September after tumbling by a revised 1.4 percent in August. Economists had expected production to edge up by 0.2 percent compared to the 1.2 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
A report from the National Association of Home Builders showed that the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index inched up to 41 in October from 40 in September. The modest increase matched economist estimates.
Elsewhere, euro zone inflation for September was revised down to 2.6 percent from the initial estimate of 2.7 percent, Eurostat said. The inflation rate, thus remained steady compared to August's 2.6 percent.
U.K. annual inflation reached the lowest since November 2009, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Consumer price inflation fell to 2.2 percent, in line with forecast, from 2.5 percent in August. Nonetheless, it remains above the central bank's 2 percent target.
Meanwhile, German economic sentiment improved more than expected in October, a survey by the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) showed. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment increased to -11.5 in October from -18.2 in September. This was forecast to rise to -14.9. This was the second increase of the indicator in a row.
by RTT Staff Writer
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