Canadian Stocks Up A Second Straight Day

(RTTNews) - Bay Street was up again on Tuesday, extending Monday's gains as it touched a fresh two-week closing high.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index opened higher and continued to trend to the upside throughout the trading day before easing just before the close.

The market was supported by strong gains in healthcare, technology and materials sectors. Along with utilities, industrials, consumer discretionary and consumer staples.

For the day, the index rallied 326.21 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 36,335.61 after trading between 36,141.46 and 36,410.62.

The market was choppy early on as investors digested comments from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump said that a deal with Iran may be possible after the midterm elections but said that he may instead just decide to "annihilate the Islamic Republic." He also spoke of setting up a "large military presence" on Greenland.

Stocks slumped in reaction but recovered later in the day as energy prices continued to fall, easing inflation concerns and the possibility of another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday, losing for a fifth straight session amid hopes that diplomatic efforts may end the conflict between U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $5.20 or 5 percent to $90.50 per barrel.

In corporate news, Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (KBGGY.PK) announced plans to expand its presence in Canada through a Memorandum of Understanding with MDA Space Ltd. and a strategic Letter of Intent with Telesat LEO ULC, a subsidiary of Telesat Corp.

The Memorandum of Understanding intends to explore joint space and defense projects and technical cooperation in a variety of domains, whereas the Letter of Intent aims to support the delivery of secure, resilient, low-latency military connectivity for Norway, Canada and their allies.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday, thanks to falling oil prices and softening U.S. Treasury yields. China's Shanghai Composite Index perked 0.06 percent, while the KOSPI in South Korea rose 0.15 percent and the TSE in Taiwan added 0.17 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 was off on holiday.

Meanwhile, European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as investors largely made cautious moves, tracking geopolitical news and continuing to weigh recent policy moves of major central banks.

The FTSE in London slipped 30.68 points or 0.29 percent to 10,708.33, while the DAX in Germany rose 3.84 points or 0.02 percent to 25,578.85 and the CAC 40 in France added 15.97 points or 0.20 percent to 8,154.91.