Equities in Toronto opened at a near one-month high on Wednesday, helped by gains in energy companies on higher oil prices and a rise in financial stocks ahead of Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 113.87 points to start off Wednesday at 15,467.17
The Canadian dollar shed 0.02 cents to 79.64 cents U.S.
Materials and gold stocks led the parade, as Teck Resources spiked $1.31, or 4%, to $34.32.
Barrick Gold picked up 34 cents, or 2.1%, to $16.73.
Teamsters Canada said early on Wednesday it has notified Canadian Pacific Railway that workers will go on strike starting April 21 following a stalemate in negotiations between the two parties.
CP shares went trucking, gaining $2.26, or 1%, to $227.80
Barclays cut the price target on Canadian National Railway to $101 from $110. CN shares gained $1.01, or 1%, to $95.84.
On the economic front, the central bank maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1.25% The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1.5% and the deposit rate is 1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regrouped 0.61 points to 798.16
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups made progress, as materials sprinted 1.9%, while gold and energy each popped 1.6%
The lone laggard was information technology, off only 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose at Wednesday's open as top U.S. companies reported stronger-than-expected results for the previous quarter, lifting investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average faded 28.76 points to begin trading Wednesday at 24,757.87, with Caterpillar as the best-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 inched up 2.06 points to 2,708.45, with energy rising more than 1%.
The NASDAQ Composite index fell 6.49 points to 7,274.61
Morgan Stanley reported a record profit and revenue for the first quarter on Wednesday, as its trading business did better than expected. Shares of the investment bank climbed more than 1%.
Rail transportation company CSX posted quarterly results that easily beat Wall Street estimates, boosted by a series of cost-cutting measures. CSX shares rose 6.1%.
United Airlines also posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter, sending its stock higher by more than 2.4%.
The corporate earnings season has gotten off to a strong start. According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, 74% of the S&P 500 companies that had reported through Tuesday surpassed earnings expectations. Meanwhile, 79% of those companies topped sales estimates.
On the economic data front, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book is due out at 2 p.m. ET. Investors will be scouring the documents to see if there are any additional clues on how the U.S. economy is currently performing.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note paled, raising yields to 2.84% from Tuesday’s 2.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.30 a barrel to $67.82 U.S.
Gold prices picked up $6.10 to $1,355.60 U.S. an ounce.
