Equity markets in Toronto made up for Tuesday’s losses on Wednesday, as energy stocks tracked gains in oil prices, which rose on hopes for a recovery in demand due to a drop in U.S. crude inventories.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 157.11 points, or 1% to greet noon Wednesday at 16,654.12
The Canadian dollar gained 0.35 cents to 75.48 cents U.S.
CAE fell 57 cents, or 2.6%, to $21.37, as it reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Hudbay Minerals, which jumped 58 cents, or 12.7%, to $5.15, on better-than-expected quarterly results, and BRP Inc., which rose $5.74, or 10.1%, to $62.72.
Boralex fell 95 cents, or 2.8%, the most on the TSX, to $32.89,after announcing a $175-million share offering. The second biggest decliner was Alimentation Couche-Tard, down $1.03, or 2.3%, to $44.54.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 11.55 points, or 1.6%, to pause for lunch Wednesday at 729.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups remained in the green by noon hour, as energy powered ahead 1.5%, industrials were better by 1.4%, and materials climbed 1.2%.
The three laggards were real-estate, fading 0.4%, health-care, weakening 0.2%, and consumer staples, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as shares of the major tech companies recovered some of their steep losses from the previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrials soared 243.45 points, to 27,930.36.
The S&P 500 heightened 43.17 points, or 1.3%, to 3,376.86.
The NASDAQ resumed its climb, 215.62 points, or 2%, to enter noon hour EDT at 10,998.44.
Sentiment was lifted in part by President Donald Trump saying late Tuesday that the U.S. government will purchase 100 million doses of Moderna’s experimental coronavirus vaccine, which is currently in late-stage human trials. Moderna shares came off their highs, but were still positive 0.7%.
Big Tech, meanwhile, recovered some of its sharp losses from the previous session. Facebook, Amazon and Netflix were all up more than 2% while Alphabet advanced 1.4%. Microsoft gained 2.4%, while Apple took on 2.8%.
On matters macroeconomic, the U.S. Labor Department released key data on Wednesday that showed core consumer prices rose at a much faster-than-expected rate last month. Core CPI jumped 0.6% in July, while economists expected a gain of 0.2%.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury slipped, raising yields to 0.68% from Tuesday’s 0.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices jumped 80 cents to $42.41 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $3.50 to $1,949.80 U.S. an ounce.
