Canadian Stocks Are Climbing On Commodity Strength -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is up in early trade Tuesday, extending its gains from the previous session. Rising commodity prices are providing a boost to the market this morning. Mining, energy and gold stocks are among the strongest performers in early action. Gold prices are rising as the U.S. dollar weakens against the Euro.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices have snapped back from yesterday's weakness as Kuwaiti oil workers remain on strike, while other outages in Yemen and Iraq threaten production.

Markets in Europe are extending their gains from the previous session Tuesday. Rising crude oil prices and a stronger than expected read on German economic sentiment are propelling the markets higher.

Markets in the United States are turning in a mixed performance. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones are modestly higher in early trade, but the Nasdaq is trading slightly to the downside. The Nasdaq is struggling due to a sharp drop in shares of Illumina, which provided weaker than expected revenue guidance.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 82.63 points or 0.60 percent at 13,802.45.

On Monday, the index closed up 82.62 points or 0.61 percent, at 13,719.82. The index scaled an intraday high of 13,730.59 and a low of 13,548.83.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is climbing 5.26 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is increasing 9.17 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is gaining 4.80 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is surging 9.64 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is rising 16.92 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is advancing 1.36 percent and Sherritt International (S.TO) is adding 8.33 percent.

The Gold Index is advancing 2.36 percent. Gold prices have risen above $1250 an ounce Tuesday morning, as the dollar has lost ground versus the euro on strong German economic data.

Goldcorp (G.TO) is rising 2.55 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is adding 2.42 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is up 0.84 percent and Kinross Gold (K.TO) is gaining 4.71 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is climbing 4.40 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is increasing 2.36 percent. Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is higher by 3.65 percent and B2Gold (BTO.TO) is advancing 2.58 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also up 2.52 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is increasing 1.89 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is climbing 1.71 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is surging 6.14 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is higher by 0.86 percent and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is rising 1.31 percent.

The Energy Index is up 1.47 percent. Crude oil prices rose Tuesday morning amid an ongoing strike by Kuwaiti energy workers that will interrupt supplies from the region. Analysts say a global supply glut may be lessened by separate outages in Yemen and Iraq.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is advancing 0.19 percent and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is increasing 0.49 percent. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is gaining 4.27 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is rising 1.01 percent. Enbridge (ENB.TO) is higher by 0.17 percent and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is rising 1.36 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is climbing 1.62 percent and Encana (ECA.TO) is surging 4.91 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is gaining 0.39 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is higher by 1.12 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is rising 0.15 percent. Air Canada (AC.TO) is increasing 0.23 percent and Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is up 2.55 percent. AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is climbing 2.31 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.28 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is higher by 0.39 percent and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is advancing 0.65 percent. Toronto-Dominion (TD.TO) is climbing 0.61 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is up 0.48 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is rising 0.07 percent.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and Meridian Credit Union Limited announced an agreement under which Meridian will purchase the business operations and assets of Roynat Lease Finance, a division of Roynat Inc. Roynat is a subsidiary of Scotiabank. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is gaining 0.38 percent

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is falling 0.68 percent. TELUS (T.TO) is declining 0.54 percent and Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is lower by 0.43 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is decreasing 0.34 percent.

Rogers Communication (RCI-B.TO) is down 1.49 percent. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of C$0.51 for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 compared to C$0.53, last year.

The Capped Information Technology Index is falling 0.43 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is down 0.62 percent and BlackBerry (BB.TO) is lower by 0.77 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is weakening by 1.21.

The Capped Health Care Index is lower by 0.17 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is losing 0.19 percent and Extendicare (EXE.TO) is down 0.33 percent.

Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO) is gaining 3.33 percent after it announced that it will acquire Snipgold Corp by way of plan of arrangement.

ATCO (ACO-X.TO) is expanding its international modular structures business by acquiring 50 percent ownership of Sabinco Soluciones Modulares S.A. The stock is rising 0.49 percent.

On the economic front, the euro area current account surplus declined in February, the European Central Bank said Tuesday. The current account surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 19 billion from EUR 27.5 billion in January.

Eurozone construction output decreased in February, after rebounding strongly in the previous month, figures from Eurostat showed Tuesday. Construction output fell a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent month-over-month in February, reversing a 2.4 percent climb in January, which was revised down from a 3.4 percent gain reported earlier.

German economic confidence strengthened for the second straight month to a four-month high in April on easing concerns over China, survey results from the ZEW-Centre for European Economic Research showed Tuesday.

The Indicator of Economic Sentiment rose by a more-than-expected 6.9 points to 11.2 in April, the Mannheim-based think tank said. The reading was forecast to rise to 8.0. This was the highest score seen so far this year.

After reporting a sharp increase in new residential construction in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that U.S. housing starts pulled back by much more than expected in March.

The report said housing starts tumbled by 8.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.089 million in March after jumping by 6.9 percent to a revised 1.194 million in February.

Economists had expected housing starts to dip by about 0.9 percent to a rate of 1.167 million compared to the 1.178 million originally reported for the previous month.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also dove by 7.7 percent to a rate of 1.086 million in March from a revised 1.177 million in February. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected building permits to climb 2.8 percent to a rate of 1.200 million from the 1.167 originally reported for the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for May delivery are up 1.28 or 3.22 percent at $41.06 a barrel.

Natural gas for May is up 0.091 or 4.69 percent at $2.031 per million btu.

Gold futures for June are up $21.90 or 1.77 percent at $1,256.90 an ounce.

Silver for May is up $0.747 or 4.60 percent at $17.00 an ounce.