TSX Ends Higher, Extends Gains To 4th Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Tuesday, led by gains in materials, energy and financial shares, despite lingering worries about global growth and U.S.-China trade disputes.

Rising crude oil and gold prices aided the market's move up north. The undertone was cautious with investors looking ahead to a fresh round of U.S.-China trade talks scheduled to begin tomorrow and the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 84.52 points, or 0.55%, at 15,463.14, after scaling a low of 15,413.88 and a high of 15,497.43 in the session.

Gold's rise to an 8-month high triggered strong buying in the materials space. The Capped Materials Index gained nearly 2%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) gained 5.3%, Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) jumped 5%, Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) gained nearly 3.5%, Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) both gained 2.6%, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) advanced 2.3%, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) gained 2.2% and CCL Industries (CCL.B.TO) ended up 1.52%.

B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) gained 2.85%, Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) ended higher by about 4.7% and IAM Gold (IMG.TO) surged up 5.8%. Continental Gold (CNL.TO) zoomed 21.1% after the company provided an update for its Buritica Project in northwestern Antioquia, Colombia.

The Capped Energy Index ended 0.89% up. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) gained 1.6%, Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) advanced by 1.5%, Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) ended stronger by 2.3%, PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) strengthened by 1.4% and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) gained 1.7%.

Bank stocks edged higher. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), all ended higher, gaining 0.3 to 0.8%.

Among industrials, Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) gained 1.3%, Air Canada (AC.TO) advanced by 1.1% and CAE Inc. (CAE.TO) added nearly 1%. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC.TO), which plunged nearly 28% on Monday after a profit warning from the company, ended 6.6% up today.

Bombardier (BBD.B.TO) shares declined 2.5% after Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp accused Bombardier of using "anticompetitive conduct" to limit competition for planes with less than 100 seats.

Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) reported adjusted net earnings of $172.2 million for the first quarter, up 35.9% over year-ago quarter. Adjusted fully diluted net earnings per share rose 21.8% to $0.67 in the quarter. The company has declared a dividend of $0.20 per share for the quarter, up 11.1%, over a year-ago. The stock ended lower by about 0.6%.

Shares from healthcare space declined sharply, extending losses from previous session. Aphria (APHA.TO) ended 1.3% down, Cronos Group (CRON.TO) declined nearly 2%, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) ended lower by nearly 7% and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) eased 3.4%.

U.S. stocks ended on a mixed note ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. The Dow ended modestly higher, while the S&P 500 edged down marginally and the Nasdaq ended lower by about 0.8%.

On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board's report showed a substantial deterioration in consumer confidence in the month of January. The report said, the board's consumer confidence index slumped to a reading of 120.2 in January, after tumbling to a revised 126.6 a month earlier.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to fall to 124.3 from the 128.1 originally reported for the previous month.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday. European markets were up too, with investors indulging in some strong buying despite lingering concerns about Brexit uncertainty, U.S.-China trade disputes and global economic slowdown.

The markets also shrugged off reports about the filing of criminal charges against the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei Technologies by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In commodities, crude oil futures for March ended up $1.32, or 2.5%, at $53.31 a barrel.

Gold futures for February ended up $5.80, or 0.5%, at $1,308.90 an ounce. Gold futures for April settled at $1,315.20 an ounce, gaining $5.90, or 0.5%, for the session.

Silver futures for March ended at $15.839 an ounce, up $0.074 from previous close, while copper futures for March ended up $0.0450, at $2.7250 per pound.