Canada's main stock index gained strength on mid-morning Wednesday, as investors weighed quarterly results from National Bank of Canada, alongside the ongoing trade war with the U.S.
The TSX collected 103.51 points to 37,061.14
The Canadian dollar slumbered 0.25 cents to 72.02 cents U.S.
National Bank of Canada reported a rise in third-quarter profit, driven by a robust performance in its wealth management segment. National shares were pounded in the early going, losing $11.11, or 5%, to $211.42.
The latest results add to a series of stronger-than-expected quarterly results by Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia on Tuesday, which helped the TSX notch a record high.
BMO shed 50 cents to $239.44, while those for Scotiabank climbed $2.08, or 1.6%, to $130.81.
Traders kept an eye on the ongoing trade war with the U.S. after Canada hit back with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. annual imports, matching Washington's latest duties dollar-for-dollar.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange demurred 4.22 points to 1,006.71.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with energy chugging along 1.2%, industrials up 0.9%, and utilities 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, subsiding 1.6%, materials, down 1.2%, and information technology, down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday after the latest personal consumption expenditures price index reading revealed that inflation remains elevated.
The Dow Jones Industrials sagged 118.82 points to 53,458.58.
The much-broader index dropped 2.42 points to 7,674.86.
The NASDAQ Composite demurred 52.58 points to 26,098.72.
Meta reached a settlement with state attorneys general over a lawsuit alleging that its social media apps harmed young users. Shares were last 1% higher.
Nvidia is set to report its earnings for the second quarter on Wednesday after the bell. Wall Street projects earnings per share of $2.09 on $92.28 billion in revenue.
July’s personal consumption expenditures price index — a monthly report detailing changes in prices of goods and services and the Federal Reserve’s preferred metric of inflation — showed a month-over-month and year-over-year increase of 0.2% and 3.7%, respectively. Both figures were 0.1% above what economists polled by Dow Jones had expected.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 4.66% from Tuesday’s 4.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded 59 cents to $81.77 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $18.10 to $4,776.40 U.S. an ounce.
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