The Toronto Stock Exchange posted a positive close for the second straight day despite falling oil and gold prices.
The benchmark S&P/TSX composite index ended a choppy trading day with a gain of 49.71 points, or 0.37%, to 13,441.06.
The 10 sub-indexes were evenly split between gains and losses, with the technology sector leading the gainers, up 1.03%. Advancers also included the heavyweights materials, up 0.86%, financials, up 0.60%, and energy which squeezed in a 0.04% increase.
"It looks like . . . the selling has died down. Maybe I can step in and buy a few stocks," David Cockfield, a money manager at MacNicol & Associates Asset Management Inc. in Toronto, said to Bloomberg to explain Tuesday's market activity. "One of the easy places to put your money is back into the banks."
Research in Motion was responsible for the positive activity in the technology sub-index, rising 1.87% to $42.50 on Tuesday -its first gain in eight days -after falling to a record-low price relative to earnings on Monday.
"That stock's been heavily oversold for the last few days and weeks and months. So I think some people are trying to do some bottom-fishing on it," Bruce Latimer, a trader at Dundee Securities, told Reuters.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil pared earlier losses, slipping US46¢ to close at US$96.91 a barrel Tuesday, while its European counterpart, Brent crude, fell US70¢ to US$110.14 a barrel.
The Canadian dollar closed the day with a 17-basis-point increase to US$102.82.
Gold fell US$10.60 to US$1,480.00 an ounce.
After sitting in a losing position all day, the Nasdaq composite index closed just above even, eking out a 0.9-point gain, for a 0.03% increase to 2,783.21. The Dow Jones was able to reverse some of its earlier losses but still fell 68.79 points, or 0.55% on the day, closing at 12,479.58 after a host of economic news pointed to a slowing economy in the U.S., including worse-than-expected housing start and building permits data, as well as a report that industrial production unexpectedly stalled in April.
Mining issues led the gains in the materials sector in Toronto on Tuesday. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 2.65% as the prices of corn and wheat increased. Gains in copper were good news for copper producer Teck Resources, which rose 3.43% to $46.74. Silver reseller Silver Wheaton rose 1.43% to $33.32 and gold producer Kinross Gold, up 2.60% to $14.23, were also leading the charge in the sector.
Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 1.34% to $83.34 and Bank of Nova Scotia was up 0.95% to $58.16.
