Daily Wrap-up: TSX closes higher as Valeant gains

TSX closes higher as Valeant gains... Valeant finally pleases investors... Home construction eased in July...

Steve Randall
TSX closes higher as Valeant gains
The main TSX index closed higher Tuesday as tech and healthcare sectors gained while energy firms were under pressure again from weakening oil prices. Valeant Pharmaceutical was one of the main successes of the day as it announced turnaround plans.

Wall Street also closed slightly higher with the Dow the best performing index, closing at a new record high.

Asian markets closed mostly higher while European indexes also gained with the German DAX the star performer, closing 2.5 per cent higher.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 45.61 (0.31 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 3.76 (0.02 per cent)
Oil is trending lower (Brent $44.80, WTI $42.59 at 4.40pm)
Gold is trending higher (1346.20 at 4.40pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7614
 
Valeant finally pleases investors
When Valeant Pharmaceutical has released news in recent months it has generally had a negative influence on its share price, now 91 per cent lower than a year ago, but Tuesday brought news that saw its stock rise.

The company reported earnings and set out plans to divest certain assets, improve its operating structure and tackle debts. It’s all part of CEO Joseph Papa’s plan to revitalize the Ontario-based firm over the next 3 years. The financial report showed the size of that task with second-quarter revenue down 11 per cent year-over-year to U$2.42 billion and a net loss of $302 million, almost 6 times that of a year earlier.
 
Home construction eased in July
There was a slowdown in construction of new homes in July according to new figures from CMHC. The seasonally-adjusted pace of starts was down to 198,395 falling from 218,326 in June.

However, the decline beat expectations of analysts who were forecasting 195,000; and the CMHC 6-month trend was 201,936, up from 197,847 in June.
 

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