The Globe and Mail

 

Blogs

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9:52 AM

At the open: Commodities leading

David Berman

North American stocks rose at the start of trading on Tuesday after investors welcomed an upbeat report on the U.S. housing market that hinted at some semblance of stability there.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10 points or 0.1 per cent, to 8622. The broader S&P 500 rose 2 points or 0.3 per cent, to 926.

Among home builders, Centex Corp. rose 3.5 per cent, DR Horton Inc. rose 3.1 per cent and KB Home rose 3.9 per cent after the Commerce Department reported a 17 per cent rise in housing starts in May.

Alcoa Inc. rose 1.9 per cent and Caterpillar Inc. rose 1.2 per cent. However, financials sagged slightly.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 161 points or 1.6 per cent, to 10,556 – helped by rebounding commodity prices.

Among energy producers, Suncor Energy Inc. rose 2.2 per cent and Talisman Energy Inc. rose 1.8 per cent after the price of crude oil rose to $72.48 (U.S.) a barrel, up $1.86. Goldcorp Inc. rose 2.9 per cent after the price of gold rose to $938.40 an ounce, up $10.90.

Magna International Inc. surged 7.1 per cent after JPMorgan raised its recommendation on the auto parts manufacturer. The analyst there changed the recommendation on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral” and more than doubled the target price.

Financials also rose modestly, with Royal Bank of Canada up 0.7 per cent and Bank of Montreal up 0.5 per cent.

Latest Comments

Most recent posts from the Market Blog

At the close: Markets push past weak jobs data Nov 06, 2009 4:58PM EST

Canaccord bets a nickel Nov 06, 2009 2:47PM EST

At noon: Seeking direction Nov 06, 2009 12:38PM EST

Is the Fed herding investors to the slaughter? Nov 06, 2009 11:33AM EST

More business and investing posts

Number Cruncher

Smaller gold miners show their lustre Nov 07, 2009 3:03AM EST

Fund Watch

Analysts slap "sell" rating on Sprott Nov 06, 2009 11:44AM EST

Markets Blog Contributors

David Berman

David Berman

David Berman has been writing about business and investing since 1995. He began his career at Canadian Business magazine, where he wrote full-length features on a range of topics, from goose slaughterers to broadcasters. Later, he moved to MoneySense magazine, where his emphasis turned to investing. More recently, he worked at the Financial Post as an investing writer and daily columnist. He has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson University.

 

David Parkinson

David Parkinson has been covering business and financial markets since 1990, and has been with The Globe and Mail since 2000. A Calgary native, he received a Southam Fellowship from the University of Toronto in 1999-2000, studying international political economics.

 
Globe and Mail Reporter Simon Avery.

Simon Avery

Simon Avery has covered telecom and technology for the Globe since 2004. Previously, he was a staff reporter for The Associated Press in Los Angeles and for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco. He covered the boom and bust in Silicon Valley for the Financial Post between 1998 and 2001. Mr. Avery holds a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Western Ontario.