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Toronto stock index rises modestly, loonie edges up, crude oil price advances

Dollarama Inc rose 4.2 per cent to $74.82.

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On Monday, the S&P/TSX Composite index slipped 126.20 points on Monday, closing at 12,319.25. Just four of the index’s 10 main groups were in negative territory.

“I know that Canadians are looking closely at the price of oil”.

Meanwhile the commodity-sensitive loonie, which has been on a steep slide since the start of the year, fell 0.37 of a USA cent to 70.31 cents US.

The loonie ended the day down 0.17 of a USA cent at 70.14 cents United States, after slipping below 70 cents earlier in the day. Goldcorp Inc. lost 4.4 percent Tuesday.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index, a measure of returns for 22 raw materials, dropped 0.8 per cent.

On the commodity markets, the February crude contract was at US$31.30 a barrel, down 11 cents and the February gold contract was down $9.80 to US$1,086.40 an ounce. The CBOE Crude Oil Volatility Index, a gauge of anticipated swings in USA crude prices, closed on Monday at the highest since February.

Global markets drifted lower as early gains dissipated. Gold producers had rallied at the start of the year as investors sought a haven from the market turmoil in China.

“The market is still very much gripped by the plunge in oil prices and this morning we’re seeing a little better tone to oil prices”, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in NY.

The Dow Jones index futures were up 169 points or about one per cent before regular North American trading began. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 per cent, on the way to halting its longest losing streak since 2008.

Oil prices fell 6 percent to new 12-year lows after a further decline in China’s blue chip stocks and a surge in overnight interest rates for the yuan heightened fears about the outlook for demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

The currency’s historic low is 61.79 cents US, set in January 2002. It was 3.3 per cent above the bottom of an August swoon, which was also sparked by anxiety over the impact of China’s weakness on worldwide growth.

“The positive that came out today was the Canadian job numbers”, said Kevin Headland, director of capital markets and strategy at Manulife Asset Management.

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No major economic events are scheduled for Tuesday.

World stock markets were mostly in the green on Tuesday after a very rough start to 2016