Dec. 29, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
Toronto stocks may extend gains on Tuesday and will likely surpass the multi-month high hit early this month.
Soon after the opening, though, the S&P/TSX Composite index had subtracted 55.32 points to 11,699.29.
Optimism over global economic recovery and on recent upsurges in commodity prices have given the main index a boost in nine of the last 12 days.
Stocks have wobbled for most of December, but a push higher in the final days of 2009 should allow the S&P/TSX Composite Index to finish the year at a 14-month peak.
Energy stocks could see further upside as the price of crude rose above $79 U.S. a barrel. Meanwhile, the price of gold was down about $2 at $1,105 U.S. an ounce.
In corporate news, mineral property developer Corriente Resources Inc. said it has agreed to $679-million takeover by CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. Ltd, subsidiary of China-based Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings and China Railway Construction Corp.
CRCC will pay $8.60 per share in cash for all of Corriente's outstanding shares, as against the Thursday's closing of $7.50.
The M&A scene continues to heat up in the Canadian gold sector, with mineral exploration company Canplats Resources Corp. announcing that it has received a revised binding acquisition proposal from the Mexican based Minera Penmont, which is superior to the one from Canadian gold miner Goldcorp on December 24.
In another M&A deal, International Royalty said the $749-million takeover offer from Royal Gold is superior to the one it had from Franco-Nevada.
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. announced the resignation of Rowland Uloth as President and Chief Executive Officer.
International mining explorer Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc. announced the appointment of Leslie Robinson into its board. Robinson served as a director of Zedex Minerals Limited for the last two years.
Industrial coating service provider Industrialex Manufacturing Corp. said it would buy back an approximate 3.91% of the company's issued and outstanding common shares.
Traders will be keenly looking home prices and consumer confidence data from across the border for further clues on the direction of the market.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.41 cents at 96.35 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower, gold tailing off 2%, followed by materials, down 1.8% and health-care issues, 0.9% to the bad.
The one gainer was consumer staples, and that by 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.60 points to 1,473.46, while the Nasdaq Canada index inched up 0.10 points to 735.77.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were looking to extend a six-session, year-end winning streak Tuesday if early indications of a higher open carry through to the close.
The Dow Jones Industrials was up 28.94 points to 10,576.02, while the broader S&P 500 was up 1.61 points to 1,126.48, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq backpedaled 0.33 points to 2,290.75.
Stocks rallied Monday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq managing fresh 2009 highs on some optimism about a recovery in retail sales and gains in select sectors.
But many market participants are taking the entire week off, which means trading volume is low and relatively small moves could cause major volatility during the shortened week on Wall Street. The stock market is closed on Friday in observance of New Year's Day.
Financial stocks could be in the spotlight Tuesday on news that Morgan Stanley may overhaul the way it pays its senior executives, according to a Wall Street Journal report, relegating a larger percentage of total compensation to shares rather than cash.
After the opening bell, the Conference Board will release its December report on consumer confidence. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect a rise in the confidence index to 53 from 49.5 in November.
Before the open, S&P/Case-Shiller issued its 20-city report on home prices for October.
Economists predicted that home prices would show a decline from the same period last year.
Treasury prices were higher, lowering yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil lost a dime to $78.67 U.S.
Gold prices slipped a dollar to $1,107 an ounce U.S.
