Stocks in Toronto extended their rally to a fourth session on Wednesday, helped by solid gains among beaten-down energy and mining stocks even as oil prices fell in volatile trade.
The S&P/TSX composite index screamed higher 221.69 points, or 1.6%, to close Wednesday at 13,868.35
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.18 cents at 76.54 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources increased 5.7% to $31.23, and Suncor Energy Inc. rose 1.7% to $35.45.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, surged 14.3% to $8.89 for the biggest increase in six weeks after it sold future silver output from a mine in Peru to Franco-Nevada Corp. for an upfront payment of $610-million. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. jumped 18.2% to $8.85, with the price of copper.
Bombardier Inc. sank 13% to $1.54, erasing most of Tuesday’s 15% gain, after the plane maker and Airbus Group SE abandoned talks on a potential business collaboration. The companies announced the end of discussions late Tuesday following a report that Montreal-based Bombardier had approached its larger rival to sell a stake in the struggling CSeries jetliner.
Other influential gainers included Canadian National Railway, which rose 2.5% to $78.36, and Bank of Nova Scotia, which added 1.5% to $60.29. Interfor Corp rose 14.4% or $1.47, to $11.67.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that building permits cooled in August by 3.7% to $7.5 billion, following increases of 15.5% in June and 0.7% in July. The decline was attributable to lower construction intentions in most provinces, mainly British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 3.76 points to 542.62
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher at the finish, with metals and mining bolting 10.7% higher, while energy gained 3%, and materials up 2.5%.
The lone laggard was consumer staples, down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday, helped by a recovery in health care stocks and gains in energy, as investors awaited the beginning of earnings season.
The Dow Jones industrial average popped 122.1 points to close at 16,912.29, with Merck leading advancers and Nike the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 remained positive 15.91 points to 1,995.83. Health-care was the greatest advancer in the S&P 500 on the day, helping the index come within four points of the psychologically key 2,000 level.
The NASDAQ index moved forward 42.79 points to 4,791.15, with Apple closing down 0.6%
Monsanto and Constellation Brands were among the few firms reporting before the bell Wednesday. Alcoa reports after the close Thursday, unofficially kicking off earnings season.
YUM Brands plunged 18.8% after reporting earnings late Tuesday that missed expectations. The fast food company also disappointed in its key China division with much weaker-than-expected growth in same-store sales.
In other corporate news, SABMiller said it rejected Anheuser-Busch InBev's raised bid, which would have given it a value of nearly £68 billion ($103.6 billion U.S.).
The International Copper Study Group said late on Tuesday that it expects the global copper market will see a deficit of 130,000 tonnes in 2016, reversing its prior estimate of a 230,000-tonne surplus.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries slumped, raising yields to 2.06%, compared to Tuesday’s 2.04%. Treasury price and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 51 cents a barrel to $48.02 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $1.43 to $1,145.81 U.S. an ounce.
