The Toronto stock market surged ahead on Tuesday near midday as it played catch up with strength from the previous session on Wall Street and benefited from higher crude oil prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index lifted 163.95 points to 11,826.54, after it was closed on Monday in observance of the Civic Holiday.
The Canadian dollar rose back above parity, to 100.28 cents US, up 0.47 of a cent from Friday's close.
Much of the activity was in commodities stocks, with metals and mining stocks leading the way, up 3.9 per cent.
The September copper contract moved up nearly 5.1 cents to US$3.43 a pound while December gold dropped $2.10 to US$1,614.10 an ounce.
Energy stocks gained 2.4 per cent with the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange ahead 97 cents to US$93.17 a barrel.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average increased 56.46 points to 13,173.97 and the broader S&P was up 7.58 points to 1,401.81. Nasdaq gained 21.64 points at 3,011.55.
The gains were partly driven by better earnings results than were expected in the United States. Of the 407 companies in S&P 500 that reported earnings through Monday, 65 per cent beat Wall Street expectations, according to S&P Capital IQ. More than 40 per cent have reported double-digit growth.
Meanwhile, U.S. employers posted the most job openings in four years in June, a positive sign that hiring may pick up. The U.S. Labour Department said Tuesday job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million in June, up from 3.7 million in May. That's the most since July 2008. Layoffs also fell.
Statistics Canada said the value of building permits issued in June fell 2.5 per cent to $6.8 billion in June, largely due to a drop in the non-residential and residential sectors in Alberta and British Columbia. The drop follows a 7.1 per cent increase in the previous month.
In corporate developments, CIBC (TSX: CM) signed a deal to buy the private wealth management business of MFS McLean Budden (TSX: SLF), which manages some $1.4 billion in assets for high net worth individuals families, endowments and foundations. CIBC shares rose 36 cents to $73.60.
Brookfield Infrastructure (TSX: BIP.UN) formed a joint venture to acquire a 60 per cent interest in Brazilian toll road operator Obrascon Huarte Lain Brasil S.A. for $1.7 billion, including $600 million in assumed liabilities. Units gained 38 cents to $34.31.
Allegations that British-based bank Standard Chartered was colluding with Iran hit its share price hard — losing a fifth of their value in midmorning trading. The bank's problems had a knock-on effect on London's main FTSE 100 stock index, which was off 0.2 per cent. Standard Chartered makes up 1.5 per cent of the index's overall market value.
However, the spillover effect across Europe has been minimal. Germany's DAX was up 0.7 per cent at 6,969 while the CAC-40 in France rose 1.3 per cent to 3,444.
Most Asian markets eked out gains, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index rising 0.9 per cent to close at 8,803.31. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4 per cent to 20,072.55. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1 per cent to 1,886.80.
Mainland Chinese shares also rose. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 per cent to 2,157.62. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.8 per cent to 898.48.
Hopes that China's central bank was preparing to announce steps to spur growth in the world's No. 2 economy also helped boost confidence in stocks. A weekend statement by the People's Bank of China was interpreted as a sign that more monetary easing was in store.
