Toronto's main stock index opened slightly higher on Tuesday, as commodities rose on improving investor sentiment about Europe's economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index began Tuesday's business day ahead 23.51 points to 12,061.10
The Canadian dollar leaped 1.05 cents, to 101.11 cents U.S.
Energy Fuels Inc. said it is looking to buy the U.S. mining assets of Denison Mines Corp in an all-stock transaction valued at $106 million.
Deloitte & Touche LLP resigned as auditor of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. on its own initiative prior to the expiry of its term of office.
In the economic docket, the best change proved to be no change for Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, who again chose to keep the bank's trendsetting rate at 1%, where it's been since September 2010.
Elsewhere, Statistics Canada reported this morning that manufacturing sales edged down 0.3% to $49.1 billion in February, after slumping 1.3% in January. The agency also said that February new vehicle sales dipped 6.7% to 141,589 units, after a rally in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 5.86 points to 1,426.59, while the Nasdaq Canada index inched forward 0.93 points to 402.47
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups began the day on the downside, with gold paling by 0.9%, information technology tumbling 0.7%, and materials off 0.4%
The half-dozen gainers were led by energy stocks, ahead 0.5%, while health-care and industrial issues rallied 0.3% each.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks opened sharply higher Tuesday, as worries about Europe ease and the latest housing data signaled more building is in the works.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 96.69 points to open up shop for Tuesday at 13,018.10
The S&P 500 stepped up 10.33 points to 1,379.90, and the Nasdaq recovered 29.08 points to 3,017.48
Shares of Apple, which have helped lift broader markets, will remain in focus after shedding nearly 9% over the past five days. Apple shares were slightly down in early trading.
Before the opening bell, banking giant Goldman Sachs reported a quarterly profit of $2.1 billion U.S. on $9.95 billion U.S. in revenue. Goldman also boosted its quarterly dividend by 31% to 46 cents U.S. a share.
Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola also released their first-quarter results ahead of the opening bell.
Johnson & Johnson posted quarterly earnings of $1.37 U.S. a share excluding certain charges, slightly better than forecasts, sending shares up slightly.
Shares of Coca-Cola rose after the company reported earnings of 89 cents U.S. a share, in line with expectations, on $11.1 billion U.S. in revenue.
U.S. Bancorp shares edged higher after the financial firm reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations.
Shares of renewable energy firm First Solar climbed, after the company announced it was reducing its global workforce by 30%.
Chesapeake Energy Corp announced Monday that its oil field services unit plans to go public as a separate company.
After the close, investors will get the latest numbers from Yahoo, IBM and Intel
Yahoo is expected to announce earnings of 17 cents U.S. per share, while IBM is expected to post earnings of $2.65 U.S. per share.
Worries about Europe eased slightly after the latest edition of an index based on German investor sentiment came in unexpectedly high. An auction of Spanish 12- and 18-month treasury bills also drew strong demand
However, investors remain nervous about Spain, where bond yields rose above 6% Monday -- the highest level in several months. The Spanish government, which will auction bonds later this week, has been struggling with rising borrowing costs amid fears that it may need to be bailed out.
Spanish 10-year yields eased to 5.89% on Tuesday morning. On Thursday, the country will hold a closely watched auction of 10-year bonds.
Economically speaking, before the opening bell, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that March housing starts occurred at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, below expectations and down from February's rate of 694,000.
March applications for building permits, an indication of future construction activity, came in at an annual rate of 747,000, ahead of expectations and up from February's rate of 715,000.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury weakened, lifting the yield to 2.01% from Monday's 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for May delivery picked up $1.86 to $104.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $4.30 to $1,654.00 U.S. an ounce.
