Equity Markets
Canada's main stock index rose at the open on Tuesday, as energy shares, fueled by higher crude oil prices, led broad gains across most sectors.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index climbed 30.42 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 15,758.74.
Nine of the index's 10 key sectors advanced.
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq and Dow hitting record highs, as investors turned their focus to the third-quarter earnings season to see if corporate profits justify lofty valuations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.34 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 22,809.41. The S&P 500 gained 6.18 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,550.91. The Nasdaq Composite added 22.63 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 6,602.37.
Wall Street hit record levels on Monday, before retreating as gains in technology stocks failed to offset a drop in General Electric and a slide in healthcare stocks.
World shares ground out a fresh record high on Tuesday, making it almost 50 for the year, although Europe tread cautiously as markets waited to see whether Spain's Catalonia region would push for independence later in the day.
Japan and South Korea returned from extended breaks to give Asia a lift, but the Catalan uncertainty meant it was a lower start for the euro zone's main bourses and for Spanish bond markets.
Catalonia's secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont is due to address the region's parliament in Barcelona. He could ask the assembly to vote on a unilateral declaration of independence from Madrid.
It is Spain's biggest political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981. Madrid's IBEX stocks index drooped 0.5 percent early on and it is now down almost 9 percent since May, though a sharp rise in the euro has also taken a toll.
Britain's FTSE gained 0.3 per cent, Germany's DAX was off 0.17 per cent and France's CAC was off 0.02 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei reversed early losses to finish 0.6 per cent higher too, though China stocks staged a small retreat as investors cashed in on some of the gains that had taken them to a 21-month high in the previous session.
China's Statistics Bureau on Tuesday said the country will have no problem meeting its economic growth target of around 6.5 percent this year, and may even beat it. Such an outcome had been widely expected after a robust start to the year.
The Shanghai index was up 0.3 per cent and the Hang Seng was up 0.6 per cent.
Commodities
Crude oil prices edged slightly higher, underpinned by OPEC comments signaling the possibility of continued action to restore market balance in the long-term.
But gains were seen as limited as oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico started returning to service after the latest U.S. hurricane forced the shutdown of more than 90 percent of crude output in the area.
Brent crude inched up 1 cent to $55.80 a barrel. U.S. crude added 2 cents to $49.60.
Gold touched its highest in nearly two weeks on Tuesday, supported by a softer dollar and geopolitical tensions in Spain and North Korea, though gains were capped by expectations of another U.S. interest rate increase.
Investors were particularly wary on Tuesday as Pyongyang celebrated the founding of its ruling party, a day after Russia and China both called for restraint on North Korea following a Twitter post from U.S. President Donald Trump hinting that military action was on his mind.
In Spain, Catalonia's secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont is due to address the region's parliament in Barcelona, where he could ask the assembly to vote on a unilateral declaration of independence.
"The Fed is going to raise rates, so we see gold breaking out of the (current) range down to the $1,250 level, with geopolitical tensions supporting the downside," said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar.
Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,291.53 an ounce by 1009 GMT, having earlier touched its highest since late September at $1,291.82.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery climbed 0.7 percent to $1,294.20.
Currencies and bonds
With rising oil prices, the Canadian dollar rose to nearly the 80-cent level.
The U.S. dollar ran into some profit taking on Tuesday with the currency dropping a fifth of a percent against a trade-weighted basket of its rivals.
The index was last at 93.47, down 0.2 percent on the day but still in reach of a 10-week high of 94.267 scaled on Friday when surprisingly stronger U.S. September wages data enhanced already high expectations that the Fed would hike rates for a third time in 2017.
"The market will be keeping a side glance on North Korea, but much of the latest tension could have been priced in on Friday when the dollar slipped," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities.
"Still, the dollar is well supported and not an easy currency to sell at the moment after Friday's data showed that U.S. wages are improving steadily."
The U.S. 10-year Treasury was up slightly to 2.36 per cent while the Canada 10-year bond was up slightly at 2.12 per cent.
Stocks set to see action
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday forecast U.S. online sales to increase by about 40 percent and overall net sales by at least 3 per cent in the fiscal year ending January, 2019. The retailer, which will hold its investor meeting on Tuesday, also said it would buy back $20-billion of its shares over two years. The company forecast profit for fiscal year 2019 to increase about 5 per cent over the expected adjusted earnings of $4.30 to $4.40 per share for the year ending January, 2018. Its shares rose 2.3 per cent in premarket trading.
General Motors and the union representing about 2,500 striking workers at the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., are expected to resume talks today aimed at ending a strike. The members of Unifor Local 88 walked off the job Sept. 17 as negotiators worked to have GM designate the CAMI plant as the lead producer of the Equinox SUV, which is also produced in Mexico. Its shares were off 0.09 per cent in premarket trading.
Honeywell International Inc. unveiled a corporate makeover on Tuesday that ties its growth more strongly to aerospace technology - the opposite of what activist investor Third Point Capital has urged since April. The results of the manufacturer's portfolio review announced before U.S. markets opened said it would spin off its home and ADI global distribution business and transportation systems into two independent, publicly-traded companies by the end of 2018. The company said the two businesses together generated annualized revenue of $7.5 billion. In the statement it also raised the low-end of its full-year 2017 earnings guidance by 5 cents to $7.05 - $7.10, excluding any pension mark-to-market adjustment. Its shares were up about 1 per cent in light premarket trading following the announcement.
Pfizer Inc. said on Tuesday it was reviewing options for its consumer healthcare business, including a full or partial separation of the unit. Pfizer said the consumer healthcare business, which had about $3.4 billion in revenue in 2016, was "distinct enough" from its core business that there could potential for it to be more valuable outside the company. Its shares were up 1 per cent in premarket trading.
Procter & Gamble was up 0.8 per cent as its shareholders prepared to vote whether to give Trian Fund's Nelson Peltz a board seat or not.
Eli Lilly fell 2.35 per cent after its drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer failed in a late-stage study.
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Economic News
Canadian housing starts dipped in September, but did not fall as much as expected, capping another quarter of strong home building growth, but a drop in August building permits suggested the long boom is cooling, separate reports showed on Tuesday.
Groundbreaking on homes edged slightly lower in September to 217,118 units from August's upwardly revised 225,918 as a 10.7-per-cent drop in multiple starts, typically condos, outweighed an 8.2 percent climb in single starts, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said.
Analysts had expected starts to cool to a 210,000 annual rate but construction continued to defy expectations for a pullback after a near decade-long boom.
The value of Canadian building permits fell more than expected in August, the second straight monthly decrease, on lower construction intentions for multifamily homes as well as industrial facilities, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. The 5.5 percent decrease in total building permits surpassed forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent. July was revised to show a decrease of 2.8 percent from the previously reported 3.5 percent fall. Nonresidential building permits fell 10.0 percent in August as construction intentions for industrial, commercial and institutional buildings all declined in the month.Residential permits fell 2.8 percent as a 6.0 percent drop in multifamily building permits offset a 0.4 percent increase in plans to build single-family homes.
With files from Reuters and Bloomberg