Stock markets show some signs of life after Brexit doldrums
Stock markets recovered somewhat Tuesday after two days of losses following the so-called Brexit vote.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 152.90 points to finish at 13,842.69.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose by 269.48 points to end at 17,409.72, the broader S&P 500 composite index advanced 35.55 points to 2,036.09 and the Nasdaq composite gained 97.43 points to close at 4,691.87.
- Brexit won't delay Canada-EU trade deal, minister says
- Brexit vote could mean months or years of pain for financial markets: Don Pittis
The Canadian dollar closed at 76.72 cents US, up 0.23 of a cent from Monday's close.
The August light sweet crude contract settled Tuesday with a gain of $1.52 at $47.85 US per barrel and July natural gas was up 14.9 cents at $2.89 US per mmBTU.
The August gold contract fell $6.80 to $1,317.90 US an ounce, after gaining more than $60 US since the Brexit vote. The September copper contract rose five cents to $2.17 US a pound.
European markets climb
Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 both climbed 2.6 per cent. Germany's DAX gained 1.9 per cent.
The euro and the British pound both moved higher, though the pound remained near its lowest levels since 1985.
Uncertainty and anxiety over the economic fallout from Britain's vote to leave the European Union has roiled global financial markets since Friday and prompted ratings agencies to slash their top-shelf credit rating for the U.K.
Investors appeared to shake off their some of their jitters ahead of Tuesday's meeting between British Prime Minister David Cameron and his European Union counterparts. Cameron has signalled he might not trigger a clause setting in motion the U.K.'s exit from the EU before October.
In the U.S., a new batch of economic data helped put traders in a buying mood.
The Commerce Department raised its estimate of U.S. economic growth in the first three months of the year. Separately, a key gauge of home values showed U.S. home prices climbed in April, hitting record highs in several cities. In addition, the Conference Board said its measure of U.S. consumer confidence increased this month to the highest level since October.
"Obviously, the market isn't very receptive to uncertainty, but in some ways this uncertainty is providing the possibility and the consideration that what happened in the U.K. isn't necessarily reflective of, or an indicator of, a recession, especially here in the U.S. as well as globally," said W. Janet Dougherty, a global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
with files from The Canadian Pres