Canadian stocks rose early Tuesday as commodity prices and the loonie rebounded from losses the previous day.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark index, the S&P/TSX composite, was up 98.37 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 11,522.98 — led by energy and financial stocks.
Before the start of trading, Statistics Canada reported retail sales fell unexpectedly in July, led by lower prices at gasoline stations. Sales declined 0.6 per cent to $34.2 billion during the month after rising in five of the first seven months of 2009, the federal agency said. Most economists had expected sales to rise 0.7 per cent in July following a one per cent increase in June.
"This is a disappointing report, to be sure," said Charmaine Buskas, senior economics strategist at TD Securities. "However, the recent trend in monthly retail sales still point to gains in five of the last seven months. As such, it is clear that the Canadian economy continues to improve, but consumers appear slow to go out on a limb and purchase to the same degree that they once did," she said.
The Canadian dollar was trading around 93.41 cents U.S., up from Monday's close of 92.81 cents U.S.
Oil strengthened on the weaker U.S. dollar, rising to $71.51 U.S. a barrel from its previous finish of $69.71 U.S.. The price of gold rose to $1,017.60 U.S. an ounce after closing at $1,004.90 U.S. on Monday.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 33.63 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 9,812.49 and the Nasdaq composite index gained 9.35 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 2,147.39.
The U.S. Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting Tuesday, and investors will be looking for any signs of a change in monetary policy when the central bank issues a statement mid-afternoon on Wednesday.
Overseas markets were also higher on Tuesday. London's FTSE 100 index was up 39.97 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 5,174.33 at midday. Frankfurt's DAX gained 53.77 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 5,722.42 and the Paris CAC rose 22.06 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 3,834.22.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index close up 228.29 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 21,701.14 on Monday. Tokyo's Nikkei stock average was closed a second day for a public holiday.
On Monday, the S&P/TSX fell 21.34 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 11,424.61. The Dow eased 41.34 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 9,778.86, while the Nasdaq rose 5.18 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,138.04.
