Canadian stocks climbed higher on Tuesday, as rising gold stocks outweighed a drop in oil prices and consumer confidence continues to grow -- at least north of the border.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 56.27 points, or 0.50%, to 11394.99 -- its best close in almost a week. The TSX venture exchange was also higher -- adding 2.58 points, or 0.20%, to 1272.31.
"We're heading into October, another notoriously bad month for markets, but prices keep going higher and we think there's more upside still to come," said Barry Schwartz, vice-president and portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto.
Optimism about the economy rose for the seventh straight month in September -- the longest streak of consecutive increases since 2002, the Conference Board of Canada reported Tuesday. The board's confidence index climbed 2.5% during the month, lifting the measure to a reading of 90.9 after having fallen to 67.7 late last year.
Gainers outpaced losers during yesterday's session in Toronto, as seven of 10 subindexes closed in positive territory.
The materials group climbed 1.79%, while financials was relatively flat at 0.09%. Oil and gas stocks fell 0.02%.
On commodity markets, crude oil closed at US$66.71 a barrel, down US13¢, and gold climbed US60¢ to US$993.10 an ounce.
Kinross Gold Corp. added 4.83% to $23.43 after announcing Tuesday it would boost production at its mines in South America by nearly 60% in the next five years.
The Canadian dollar was up 17 basis points to US92.12 cents.
After gaining earlier in the day on data showing U.S. home prices rose in July, U.S. stocks fell yesterday as a disappointing consumer confidence reading weighed on markets. The Dow Jones industrial average ended 47.16 points, or 0.48%, lower to 9742.20. The S&P 500 was also down, shedding 2.37 points, or 0.22%, to 1060.61 and the NASDAQ composite index closed at 2124.04 -- down 6.70 points, or 0.31% "After a huge gain in August, consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in September on all fronts, marking the third decline in four months and increasing the risks of a double-dip," said Scotia Capital Markets economists Derek Holt and Karen Cordes in a note to clients.
"What is even more important is that spending intentions also deteriorated across the board. For a recovery to be sustainable at this point, consumer spending must return and signs of this happening on a meaningful scale are few and far between." The Case Schiller/S&P Housing Index released showed 18 out of 20 cities surveyed reporting a month to month price increase.
The overall index of 20 cities was 3.6% above the recent low achieved in April 2009.
