Toronto Stocks Advance; First Capital REIT rises on C$184 Million Property Sale

By Adriano Marchese

Toronto-listed stocks were higher mid-trading on Tuesday, with most sectors pushing up the S&P/TSX Composite Index by 136.72 points. Investors are waiting Wednesday's Bank of Canada announcement on interest rate hikes, with many economists noting that the central bank finds itself between rock and hard place of balancing inflation, interest rates and the banking sector. In the session, materials, tech and manufacturing were the lead gainers of the session, while process industries, tech services and health services were the only sectors posting declines.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 0.74% to 20426.30 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 rose by 0.70% to 1228.68.

First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust shares were 1.4% higher at 15.71 Canadian dollars ($11.63) after it said that it has agreed to sell four properties across Toronto and Montreal for 184 million Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $136.2 million.

Other market movers:

Western Copper & Gold Corp. shares rose 4% to C$2.58 after it said its partner, Rio Tinto PLC, will participate in a strategic investment and maintain its 7.84% interest in the company. Western Copper will issue 878,809 new shares to Rio Tinto for C$2.3 million.

First Helium Inc. shares were 7.5% higher, reaching C$0.22 a share, after the company said it exercised an option to acquire a 640-acre plot of prospective land in Dixonville, Alberta.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2023 12:24 ET (16:24 GMT)

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