(Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index rose on Tuesday as global risk sentiment improved after reports of Moscow’s withdrawal of some troops near Ukraine calmed fears of a potential Russian invasion.
However, weakness in commodity-linked shares limited gains on the benchmark.
At 9:39 a.m. ET (14:39 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 85.15 points, or 0.4%, at 21,437.66, recovering some of the previous session’s losses.
Some troops in Russia’s military districts adjacent to Ukraine are returning to bases after completing drills, Russia’s defence ministry was quoted as saying on Tuesday, a move that could de-escalate frictions between Moscow and the West.
“Even though global equity markets have wind in their backs, the Canadian market could get impacted by falling oil and gold prices. But that’s in the short term and both of those are still relatively high,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
The energy sector dropped 2.4% as easing Russia-Ukraine tensions calmed concerns over possible disruptions of Russian energy supplies, sending oil prices more than 3% lower. [O/R]
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.4% as gold futures fell 0.8% to $1,853.7 an ounce. [GOL/]
Restaurant Brands International Inc gained 3.7% after the Burger King-parent beat estimates for quarterly revenue and profit.
Meanwhile, TC Energy shares gained 0.3% despite the oil producer reporting a fall in quarterly profit as it took a C$60 million ($47.16 million) hit from charges related to its scrapped Keystone XL oil pipeline.
On the economic front, Canadian housing starts fell 3% in January compared with the previous month, data from the national housing agency showed.
HIGHLIGHTS
The TSX posted one new 52-week high and no new lows.
Across all Canadian issues, there were three new 52-week highs and 15 new lows, with a total volume of 56.83 million shares.
(Reporting by Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
