TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market ended slightly higher Tuesday, buoyed by rising oil prices and strong earnings from one of Canada's largest banks.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 16.58 points to 14,764.77, with the metal and financial sectors registering the biggest gains.
Shares in the Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) jumped more than two per cent after the bank reported a four per cent hike in profit in its latest quarter.
BMO is the first of the country's six biggest banks to report their earnings for the third-quarter. It said it had net income of $1.25 billion during the three-month period that ended on July 31. That's up from $1.19 billion during the comparable three-month period ended July 31.
Allan Small, a senior adviser at Holliswealth, said investors are taking BMO's report as a sign that the other banks will also show rising profits despite concerns over bad loans to the oilpatch.
"The strength that (BMO) showed should hopefully spill over to the other banks," he said.
"The negative of that, however, is if there is a disappointment, you could see the banks (shares) drop substantially. The markets are pricing in good earnings and if they come in line, you might not see much more increase. They tend to buy the rumour and sell the news."
Royal Bank (TSX:RY) is scheduled to release its results on Wednesday, with CIBC (TSX:CM) and TD Bank (TSX:TD) reporting on Thursday. Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) will report its earnings next Tuesday and National Bank (TSX:NA) is the following day.
Trading in New York remained low-key ahead of highly anticipated speech on Friday by U.S. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen. While the Fed is not expected to raise interest rates at its meeting next month, investors will be dissecting her words for clues on the possibility and timing of such a hike.
Still, a report that Americans stepped up their purchases of new homes in July at the fastest pace in nearly nine years helped nudge Wall Street into positive territory.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 17.88 points at 18,547.30, the broader S&P 500 rose 4.26 points to 2,186.90 and the Nasdaq composite climbed 15.48 points to 5,260.08.
Oil prices saw an uptick. The October crude contract was up 69 cents at US$48.10 per barrel, helping the loonie add 0.24 of a cent to 77.46 cents US.
In other commodities, the September natural gas contract was up eight cents at US$2.76 per mmBTU, the December gold contract rose $2.70 to US$1,346.10 an ounce and September copper contracts fell two cents to US$2.12 a pound.
