Canada’s main stock index rose on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data bolstered investor sentiment, with the index touching a record intraday high before giving back some of its gains.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 34.08 points, or 0.2%, at 21,717.16, after touching its highest intraday level ever at 21,796.16.
Wall Street also gained ground as data showed U.S. retail sales surging 1.7% in October, the largest gain since March.
“Spending is a key driver of economic activity and data is pointing to consumers shrugging off higher prices, potentially leading to a strong holiday shopping season,” said Ben Jang, a portfolio manager at Nicola Wealth.
“Technology stocks are leading the charge,” Jang added.
The technology group rose 1.3%, helped by a gain of nearly 3% for electronic payment technology company Nuvei Corp .
Industrials advanced 0.5%, while the heavily weighted financial services sector was up 0.3%.
The Toronto market has climbed nearly 25% since the start of the year as higher commodity prices bolstered the shares of resource companies.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.9%, as gold retreated from a five-month peak.
On Wall Street, stocks rose as earnings from Home Depot and the retail sales data signaled solid consumer health and eased worries about a Federal Reserve that may have to become more aggressive in the face of rising inflation.
Retailer Home Depot Inc jumped 5.73% to close at a record high and had its biggest one-day percentage gain since April 2020 after beating quarterly sales estimates by nearly US$2 billion and handily topping the earnings per share view.
“This does give people a sigh of relief that the retail outlook is still pretty rosy,” said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Allspring Global Investments in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
“The outlook is one where prices are rising but consumer spending is still strong and it looks like the supply chains are stressed but still we’re able to get goods on the shelves.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.77 points, or 0.15%, to 36,142.22, the S&P 500 gained 18.1 points, or 0.39%, to 4,700.9 and the Nasdaq Composite added 120.01 points, or 0.76%, to 15,973.86.
The S&P consumer discretionary sector climbed 1.38% and was the best-performing of the 11 major S&P sectors while the S&P 500 retailing index rose 1.24% to close at a record high for a second straight session.
Walmart Inc, the country’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, raised its annual sales and profit forecasts. Its shares gave up early gains, however, and fell 2.55%, their biggest daily percentage decline since May, as supply-chain woes dented margins and weighed on the consumer staples sector.
Retailers Target Corp, Macy’s Inc and Kohl’s Corp are set to report earnings this week.
Other data on the day showed U.S. manufacturing output surged to a two-and-a-half-year high in October.
The positive data helped investors look past comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who called for a more hawkish stance by the central bank in response to rising inflation.
In contrast, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Tuesday called for central bank patience in the face of high inflation which, she predicted, will likely fade on its own as the pandemic recedes.
Investors have also been eyeing the possibility that President Joe Biden may pick a new head of the Federal Reserve as Chair Jerome Powell’s term is set to end in February 2022, with Biden saying on Tuesday afternoon he will make a final decision in about four days.
Technology shares also moved higher, up 1.07%, lifted in part by a 7.89% gain in chipmaker Qualcomm Inc , which rose after it said German automaker BMW will use its chips in its next generation of driver-assistance and self-driving systems.
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc posted its first advance in four sessions, even as CEO Elon Musk sold $930 million in shares. The stock had tumbled more than 15% last week after Musk began selling shares.
JPMorgan Chase & Co also sued Tesla for $162.2 million over a breach of contract related to stock warrants.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.22-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.14-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 80 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 152 new highs and 189 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.53 billion shares, compared with the 11.02 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Also see:
Stocks that saw action on Tuesday - and why
Tuesday’s small-cap stocks to watch
Tuesday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades
Reuters, Globe staff
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