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Dec. 15, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
Toronto's main index barely budged Tuesday morning as modest strength among energy stocks was offset by slightly weaker financial shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite index had made its way into the green by lunchtime, gaining 23.61 points to 11,569.30.
Volume has been relatively subdued despite a flurry of economic releases from both sides of the border, with traders not sticking their necks out ahead of tomorrow's interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve.
Energy shares were up in early dealing. Oil edged slightly higher this morning, briefly reclaiming the $70 U.S. a barrel mark following nine straight losing days.
Among stocks in the oil patch, Enovus was up 2.5%, while Crew Energy was up 1.3%.
Gold stocks were down, led by a 2.7% drop for Crystallex
The price of gold eased just below $1,115 U.S. as the resurgent U.S. dollar powered to two-month high versus the euro.
With the buck getting a boost from concerns about the fiscal health of a handful of euro area member states, gold's hedge value has been diminished over the past few days.
In corporate developments, WestJet Airlines Ltd. and Royal Bank of Canada announced plans to roll out the carrier's new credit card program in late January.
West Jet shares were up fractionally, while RBC shares were off slightly.
Uranium One said it acquired 50% of the Karatau Uranium Mine in Kazakhstan for $420 million from JSC Atomredmetzoloto. Uranium One shares added 2%.
In economic news, Canada's index of leading economic indicators jumped at nearly double the rate economists expected in November, helped by higher home sales and sales of durable goods.
Statistics Canada's composite leading index rose by 1.3% in November, equaling the largest of its six straight increases.
The advance was led by household demand, while the recovery of demand in the United States gave a boost to manufacturing in Canada.
Elsewhere, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that new motor vehicle sales improved 3.5% to 133,559 units in October, largely helped by better sales of North-American built passenger cars, which rose 7.6%.
In another report, the nation's number crunchers said Canadian labour productivity fell 0.2% in the third quarter, while gross domestic product of business fell 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.15 cents to 94.22 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight were higher by noon. Information technology was up 1.1%, telecoms were ahead 0.9% and energy stocks gained 0.8%.
The six laggards were weighed by gold, off 0.8%, health-care issues, down 0.5%, and consumer staples, down 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange staggered 5.81 points to 1,419.27, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 2.38 points to 694.98
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks seesawed near midday Tuesday as investors weighed a surprisingly sharp jump in wholesale inflation, a mix of readings on the manufacturing sector and a rising dollar.
The start of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting was also in focus.
The Dow Jones Industrials greeted noon down 23.73 points to 10,477.32, while the S&P 500 fell 2.33 points to 1,111.78, but the Nasdaq regained 0.55 points to 2,212.65.
Stocks gained Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending at the highest levels since October 2008 and the Nasdaq closing at the highest point since September 2008. The advance came after Citigroup said it will repay its government bailout funds and Dubai said it received $10 billion U.S. to cover its debt, easing default worries.
The weak dollar also helped Monday, lifting commodity shares and the stocks of companies that do a lot of business overseas. But the dollar gained Tuesday as concerns about debt-ridden Greece caused investors to pull money out of the euro and put it in the dollar, pressuring stocks.
Wells Fargo said late Monday that it will pay back $25 billion U.S. in government bailout money, adding to the list of institutions that are looking to give back funds provided to them during the financial crisis.
Best Buy reported better-than-expected quarterly profit before the start of trading. The electronics retailer also lifted its current-quarter revenue and earnings forecast.
Boeing plans to make the first test flight of its 787 Dreamliner Tuesday, nearly two-and-a-half years after the more fuel-efficient plane was due to fly.
Economically speaking, wholesale prices jumped last month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday, as the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 1.8%.
Analysts were anticipating the reading to climb 0.8% in November.
So-called core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, also came in higher than expected, climbing 0.5% after falling 0.6% in October.
The Federal Reserve will report on manufacturing activity just before the opening bell. November capacity utilization is expected to have risen to 71.1% from 70.7% in October. Industrial production is expected to have risen 0.5% after rising 0.1% in October.
Treasury prices dropped sharply, raising yields to 3.61%, from Monday's 3.52%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil gained back $1.09 to 70.60 cents U.S.
Gold prices slid a dollar to $1,123 an ounce U.S.