TSX Grabs Marginal Gains at Open

Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as commodity-focused stocks led gains, although a rise in Treasury yields following strong U.S. retail sales and signs of a slowdown in the domestic housing market capped gains.

The S&P/TSX Composite regained 33.4 points to kick off Tuesday at 21,716.48.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.2 cents at 79.70 cents U.S.

Canada's Trans Mountain oil pipeline has been shut down temporarily because of rainstorms pounding parts of the province of British Columbia.

Atlantic Equities initiated coverage on Canadian National Railway with a neutral rating. CNR shares picked up 22 cents to $161.85.

Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on Medipharm Labs to hold from speculative buy. Medipharm shares dropped half a cent, or 1.9%, to 26 cents.

TD Securities raised the target price on Exchange Income Corp. to $55.00 from $53.00. Exchange shares parted with 37 cents to $45.45.

On the economic slate, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts amounted to 264,264 units in October, down from 270,661 units in September.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.29 points to 1,017.20.

All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as information technology and gold each climbed 0.5%, while industrials took on 0.4%.

The three laggards were health-care, down 1.7%, while consumer discretionary and materials each stepped back 0.2%.

ON WALLSTREET

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained after better-than-expected results from Home Depot and Walmart.

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The 30-stock index spiked 141.79 points to start Tuesday trading at 36,229.24.

The S&P 500 picked up 13.78 points to 4,696.58.

The NASDAQ Composite gained 31.98 points to 15,885.83.

Home Depot helped kicked off a busy week of retail earnings with a beat on earnings estimates and a 9.8% jump in net sales. Shares of the company gained 4%.

Walmart reported third-quarter profit and revenue well above estimates, and U.S. same-store sales jumping 9.2%, excluding fuel. The company also raised its forecast for 2021, saying adjusted earnings per share will be around $6.40 versus its prior expectations of between $6.20 and $6.35. Still, the shares fell 1.8%.

Retail sales figures for October also came in 1.7%, higher than 0.7% in September, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected sales to have jumped by 1.5%.

On Monday afternoon President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. The package includes funding for transportation, broadband and utilities.

Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained back lost ground Tuesday, lowering yields to 1.60% from 1.63% on Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices sifted off 54 cents to $80.34 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices capsized $2.90 to $1,863.70 U.S. an ounce.