Equities in Canada’s largest market opened at an all-time high on Wednesday, lifted by mining and technology stocks, as investors digested U.S. jobs data that showed employers added more positions than expected.
The TSX continued gaining, on Wednesday. This time, the gain was 70.01 points to 33,326.84
The Canadian dollar subtracted 0.53 cents to 73.63 cents U.S.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said after a conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump that the issue of a $4.7-billion bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, will be resolved.
Trump had threatened on Monday to bar the bridge from opening, in his latest salvo against Canada over trade issues.
In after-market earnings on Tuesday, property insurer Intact Financial booked a 12% jump in its net operating income for the fourth quarter, driven by strong underwriting performance. Intact shares collapsed $4.97, or 1.9%, to $258.58.
Toromont Industries surpassed fourth-quarter revenue estimates, while First Quantum Minerals also beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations.
Toromont shares strode $4.44, or 2.4%, higher to $187.69, while First Quantum captured 18 cents to $38.94.
On the economic ledger for today, the total value of building permits issued in Canada increased in December $821.3 million (+6.8%) to $12.8 billion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dished off 5.31 points to 1,032.20.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were stronger at the close Tuesday, with industrials grabbing 1.1%, while materials and telecoms each took on 0.9%.
The three laggards were consumer staples, down 0.6%, energy, sliding 0.3%, while information technology, backtracking 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday after the better-than-expected delayed January jobs report failed to spark a sustainable advance.
The Dow Jones Industrials index lost 114.37 points, to 50,073.77,
The much broader index fell back 11.62 points to 6,930.19.
The NASDAQ tumbled 107.04 points to 22,995.47.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January non-farm payrolls report — which had been delayed due to a partial government shutdown that ended on Feb. 3 — showed job growth of 130,000 last month.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had called for a gain of 55,000. The latest figure also marked a sizable increase from December, which was downwardly revised to 48,000.
The unemployment rate also landed at 4.3%, a bit below the Dow Jones forecast for 4.4%. Treasury yields jumped on the heels of the report, which initially gave investors some optimism that the economy was on firm footing.
At session highs, the Dow was up more than 300 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the NASDAQ jumped 0.9%. However,
Federal Reserve interest rate cut odds were reduced, which could have lessened investor enthusiasm.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury perked, lowering yields to 4.17% from Tuesday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered $1.40 to $65.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices restocked $57.00 to $5,088 U.S. an ounce.
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