Canada's benchmark stock index rose on Wednesday, boosted by energy shares, after crossing the 30,000-point threshold for the second straight day.
The TSX Composite Index came off its highs of the morning, but still registered positive 86.18 points to pause for lunch Wednesday at 29,901.81.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.3 cents to 71.98 cents U.S.
Lithium Americas popped after Reuters reported that the Trump administration is seeking an equity stake of as much as 10% in Lithium Americas, boosting the Canadian company's shares by $4.23, or 100.2%, to $8.45.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had "constructive" trade talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang with both countries seeking to discuss trade conflicts.
Canada has imposed tariffs on imports of China-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum since last year, with Beijing retaliating with levies on Canadian canola imports.
Separately, Carney said trade negotiations with the U.S. were ongoing, with remaining issues to move to a forthcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Meanwhile, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem expressed concern on Tuesday about U.S. President Donald Trump's pressure tactics on the U.S. Federal Reserve.
In company news, Manulife Financial Corp's wealth and asset management arm said it had signed an agreement to buy U.K. asset manager Schroders' business in Indonesia.
Manulife shares dipped 14 cents to $42.88.
Bank of Montreal launched a process to sell some of its U.S. branches with about $6 billion in deposits, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. BMO traded down $1.08 midday to $179.68.
Energy stocks led sectoral gains, as Vermilion Energy climbed 52 cents, or 4.7%, to $11.68.
Materials stocks rose as First Quantum jumped $1.21, or 4.3%, to $29.04, while Teck Resources climbed $2.83, or 5.3%, to $56.27.
Hudbay Minerals said the temporary shutdown at its Peru mill would not affect its ability to meet 2025 production and cost forecast range, sending its shares up $1.16, or 6.2%, to $19.75.
Technology shares recovered from a dip in the previous session. Open Text Corp sprang up $2.24, or 4.4%, to $53.60, and Constellation Software rose $110.56, or 2.8%, to $4,110.57, while BlackBerry dropped a penny to $5.88 ahead of quarterly results.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange marched along 6.12 points to 918.97.
Seven of the 12 subgroups remained in the green by noon hour, led by energy, surging 1.6%, information technology, better by 0.6%, and utilities, ahead 0.4%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling in price 1.2%, telecoms, shedding 0.9%, and real-estate, or 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday as artificial intelligence giants Nvidia and Oracle came under pressure for a second day.
The Dow Jones Industrials dived 161.1 points to 46,131.68.
The much-broader index dropped 72.39 points to 6,624.53.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ tumbled 155.39 points to 22,418.11
Nvidia slid more than 1%, continuing its declines from Tuesday as heightened fears about the potentially circular nature of the AI industry drew investor skepticism. Earlier this week, the chipmaker announced a $100-billion partnership with OpenAI.
Fellow leading AI player Oracle also fell for a second straight day, losing 4% Wednesday.
Beyond the two names, shares of Micron Technology moved lower by 2% as the company’s earnings and forecast weren’t strong enough to impress investors, signaling that confidence in the AI trade is still in question.
Prices for 10-year Treasury sagged Wednesday, lowering yields to 4.14% from Tuesday’s 4.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices progressed $1.34 to $64.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $38.50 to $3,777.200 U.S. an ounce.
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