As US-China Talks Trigger Hopes, Canadian Index Moves Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian index moved upwards on Tuesday as hopes for resolution of the nearly six-month-old tariff war set off by US brightens up. After opening flat, the Canadian benchmark stock market index, S&P/TSX Composite today moved up to 26,476.73, the intra-day high. However, unable to hold on at that level, it slid downwards until noon after which it gathered momentum to close at 26,426.31, up by 50.51 (or 0.19%). On the trade front, the high-level official talks which began yesterday in London between US and China to resolve the tariff conflict continued for the second day. Trade negotiations between the world's two largest economies commenced on Monday - and while U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the talks are "going well," there has been no breakthrough as of yet. With stakes high for both the major economies, analysts are of the opinion that a mutually beneficial agreement is more likely on the cards and both sides may loosen up their rigid stance. However, despite hopeful expectations, investors traded cautiously in Tuesday's session. Among the major sectors that gained today, Healthcare (1.58%), Consumer Staples (1.48%), Energy (1.17%) and Consumer Discretionary (1.11%) were the prominent gainers. Among the individual stocks Tilray, Bausch Health, Baytex Energy, Vermillion, and Cenovus gained 5.45%, 4.35%, 6.40%, 4.70%, and 2.40%, respectively. Material and industrial sectors lost 1.12% and 0.15%, respectively. Among the individual stocks, SSR Mining (3.60%), Pan American Silver Corp (2.53%), Centerra Gold (2.92%), and Bombardier Inc (1.80%) were the notable losers. The focus is now on the US Labor Department which shall be releasing Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Wednesday. CPI is a crucial input for the Federal Reserve to decide on the monetary policy and interest rates.