Triple-Digit Gains to Begin Short Week on TSX

Stocks in Toronto got back at it Tuesday, after resting up over the long weekend, and covered a lot of upward ground, mostly due to health-care strength.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off its highs of Tuesday morning, but still popped 246.58 points, or 1.7%, to close the first day of a short week at 14,885.48.

The Canadian dollar edged up 0.02 cents to 71.76 cents U.S.

Markets in Canada were closed Monday for Victoria Day.

Health-care stocks were haler, with Aurora Cannabis sprinting $5.05, or 32.7%, to $20.40, while Bausch Health Companies hiked $2.91, or 13.1%, to $25.11.

Energy stocks were also in the green, with Crescent Point Energy up 22 cents, or 12.6%, to $1.96, while Baytex Energy acquired six cents, or 16.7%, to 42 cents.

Consumer discretionary stocks also had a banner day, with MTY Food Group gaining three dollars, or 16.4%, to $21.29, while BPY picking up $3.96, or 10.6%, to $40.73.

Gold, however, moved onto the negative side, with Iamgold handing back 20 cents, or 3.7%, to $5.26., while Kirkland Lake Gold scaling back $1.71, or 3%, to $56.08.

Tech stocks also shed some of their strength, as Shopify lost $34.18, or 3.2%, to $1,048.75, while Kinaxis dipped $7.09, or 4.2%, to $162.19.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 18.86 points, or 3.7%, to 527.85.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with health-care vaulting 10.2%, energy leaping 5.5%, and consumer discretionary stronger by 3.7%.

The two laggards were gold, retreating 1%, and information technology, down 0.5%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks fell for the first time in four days on Tuesday, giving back some of the strong gains from the previous session, amid sharp losses from retail and bank shares.

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The Dow Jones Industrials cut their winning streak at three sessions, having surrendered 390.51 points, or 1.6%, to close at 24,206.86.

The S&P 500 dropped 30.97 points, or 1.1%, to 2,922.94.

The NASDAQ fell 49.72 points to 9,185.10

The 30-stock Dow jumped more than 900 points Monday, while the S&P 500 closed the day up 3.2%, hitting its highest level since March 6.

The major averages were under pressure in the final hour of trading after a STAT News report raised concerns about the trial results for a potential coronavirus vaccine from Moderna. Shares of the biotechnology company dropped 10.4%.

Home Depot shares lost 3% to lead the Dow lower after the home improvement retailer said net income last quarter dropped 10.7% due to extra costs related to the pandemic, although the retailer also said sales increased by 7% for the period. Walmart shares were down 2.1%, giving up earlier gains, despite soaring e-commerce sales in the first quarter.

Bank shares fell broadly on Tuesday. Wells Fargo dropped 5.8% while Bank of America and Citigroup slid more than 2.7% each. JPMorgan dropped nearly 2%. Those losses came on the back of strong gains from Monday’s session.

Investors looked ahead to testimony from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Their testimony is part of required updates to Congress on the economic response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows more than 4.8 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, with over 1.5 million of those infections in the U.S. alone.

Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 0.69% from Monday’s 0.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices added 54 cents to $32.36 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices hiked $14.00 to $1,748.40 U.S. an ounce.

Stocks Snap 3-Day Winning Streak