Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Wednesday, boosted by energy and materials stocks, while investors await more U.S. economic data this week to adjust their expectations for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.
The TSX Composite hiked 119.75 points to kick off the mid-week at 21,950.77.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.08 cents at 74.20 cents U.S.
Transcontinental beat adjusted profit per share estimates for the first quarter on Wednesday. Transcontinental shares gathered 59 cents, or 4.1%, to $$14.82.
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) is looking to sell a stake in its wholly owned Australian unit Optus to Canadian private equity giant Brookfield, whose shares picked up 28 cents to $57.09.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.82 points to 558.39.
All but two of the 12 subgroups moved skyward in Wednesday’s first hour, with materials soaring 2.1%, gold up 1.6%, and energy 1.2% more energetic.
Only utilities subsided 0.04%, while communications were unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 struggled to add to momentum on Wednesday, as traders digest a gain in the previous session that brought the S&P 500 to a fresh record.
The Dow Jones Industrials reached higher 135.81 points to open Wednesday at 39,141.10.
The broader index slid 5.42 points to 5,169.70.
The NASDAQ tumbled 92.61 points to 16,173,08.
Nvidia shares were down more than 3%. Shares of Meta and Apple fell slightly. Dollar Tree lost 13% after the discount retailer released its fourth-quarter results.
Wall Street is coming off a winning session, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq popping more than rallied more than 1% on Tuesday, after February U.S. inflation data came in about in line with expectations.
Investors will get more inflation data Thursday in the form of the producer price index for February.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, boosting yields to 4.17% from Tuesday’s 4.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $1.93 to $79.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices spiked $4.10 to $2,170.20.
