TSX Picks up Where Left Off

Stocks in Toronto more or less continued their surge from Monday into Tuesday, powered by gold and utility stocks.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index surpassed Monday’s all-time peak soon after Tuesday’s opening, tacking on 106.16 points at 22,191.76.

The Canadian dollar jumped 0.53 cents to 80.61 cents U.S.

Lion Electric received an order for 50 all-electric LionC school buses from Autobus Campeau in Quebec. Lion shares surged 26 cents, or 2.5%, to $10.20.

Alliance Global Partners cut the price target on Mcloud Technologies to $5.50 from $6.50. Shares in Mcloud hiked 21 cents, or 4.4%, to $5.02.

Scotiabank cut the target price on Osisko Gold Royalties to $22.50 from $26.00. Osisko shares leaped 32 cents, or 1.9%, to $17.24.

Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that in February, Canada's merchandise imports were up 3.9%, following a 7.5% decline in January. Meanwhile, exports rose 2.8% in February. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world narrowed from $3.1 billion in January to $2.7 billion in February.

The federal Liberals find themselves in a bind ahead of this week's budget: the economy has recovered from the pandemic, yet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged billions in new stimulus, a political poker chip that could further torch runaway inflation.

ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched forward 0.59 points to 905.69.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, led by gold, up 1.2%, while consumer staples and utilities each gained 1.1%.

The two laggards were health-care, sagging 1.1%, and consumer discretionaries, off 0.6%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks were mostly flat on Tuesday as traders continue to assess the odds of a recession and the latest developments in Ukraine that is keeping oil over $100 a barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrials eased back 8.2 points at Tuesday’s open to 34,913.68, helped by gains in Merck and Chevron.

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The S&P 500 slumped 17.61 points to 4,565.03.

The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 171.92 points, or 1.2%, to 14,360.63.

Deutsche Bank on Tuesday became the first major Wall Street bank to forecast a U.S. recession is ahead, citing surging inflation and aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes.

Shares that would hold up well in a slowing economy were higher on Tuesday. Drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer were higher by more than 1.5%. Staples like Procter & Gamble and Walmart were also higher. Meanwhile, cruise stocks like Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean rose more than 3%.

Tech shares were lower, led by chip shares, consolidating their big gains from Monday. Still, Twitter shares tacked on another 6% to their 27% Monday gain as Elon Musk said he will join the company’s board of directors a day after revealing a 9.2% stake in the social media giant.

Stocks could be on hold as investors await the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes on Wednesday. Those minutes were for the meeting last month where the central bank hiked rates for the first time in years and indicated six more hikes were ahead this year.

And investors continue to keep an eye on Europe, as the war between Ukraine and Russia continues. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to pursue allegations of war crimes against Russian forces, noting that more than 300 people were killed and tortured in a suburb near the capital of Kyiv

Treasury prices faltered as yields spiked to 2.51%, from Monday’s 2.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices nosed ahead 57 cents to $103.85 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices frightened $13.30 to $1,947.30 U.S. an ounce.