Daily Wrap-Up: Banks, Blackberry lift TSX

Banks, Blackberry lift TSX... Wholesale trade sets new record... Blackberry gains as investors weigh online security surge...

Daily Wrap-Up: Banks, Blackberry lift TSX
Steve Randall
Banks, Blackberry lift TSX
There were gains for half of the ten sector groups of the main TSX index Tuesday as traders got back to work following the Victoria Day break.

IT was the best performing group as Blackberry shares hit a 4-year high and the financials group also gained as investors await the big banks’ earnings reports starting Wednesday.

Among the weaker performers were materials as gold producers lost out as price declined. Energy was down too on a mixed day for oil prices with OPEC’s output cap looking likely but Donald Trump suggesting a large flood of US stockpiles could hit the market.

Wall Street joined the TSX in closing higher while Europe was mostly higher and Asia was mostly lower. London closed lower following the Manchester concert bombing.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 18.48 (0.12 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 43.08 (0.21 per cent)
Oil is trending higher (Brent $54.17, WTI $51.48 at 9.45pm)
Gold is trending lower (1250.90 at 4.45pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7395

Wholesale trade sets new record
Canada’s wholesale trade was above $60 billion in March, the first time that figure had been exceeded.

Statistics Canada reports that four of seven subsectors pushed wholesale sales up 0.9 per cent. The quarterly gain was 3.6 per cent in the first three months of 2017 compared with the last three of 2016.

In volume terms, there was a 0.6 per cent rise.

Lumber sales gained 6 per cent to help the building materials and supplies subsector gain 3.9 per cent, the largest sector gain in dollar terms to hit $8.4 billion.

Blackberry gains as investors weigh online security surge
Shares in Blackberry saw a jump Tuesday as investors bet on the firm gaining from the cyber security and automotive software markets. The Waterloo-based firm has seen its value grow recently following its quarterly earnings report at the end of March.

Analysts are considering whether Blackberry might look to grow through acquisitions while a recent deal to provide security services to luxury vehicle makers has also been suggested.

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