Equities in Canada’s biggest market moved higher by midday Wednesday, powered by health-care and mining stocks, to counter losses in real-estate and utilities.
The S&P/TSX composite index recovered 54.92 points to greet noon at 13,462.75
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.05 cents at 75.21 cents U.S.
The most influential spur to the index was Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, which spiked $3.08, or 2.7%, to $119.44.
Suncor Energy Inc lost 11 cents to $36.89 and Canadian Natural Resources fell eight cents to $33.21.
Canadian National Railway advanced 96 cents, or 1.2%, to $79.02 and Canadian Pacific Railway added $1.86, or 1% to $196.54.
Auto parts maker Magna International Inc gained 38 cents to $59.79 and convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard rose $1.12, or 1.8% to $62.20 as a handful of analysts upgraded their target prices on the stock after its quarterly earnings report.
While no economic data is due for release today, some somewhat cheery news came out last night from the Bank of Canada. It stated that our economy is rebounding following a modest contraction in the first half of the year, boosted by non-energy exports and investment, which will help growth reach 2.5% in 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.14 points to 519.12.
All but three of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, as health-care soared 1.9%, while metals and mining spiked 1.7%, and consumer staples took on 1.6%
The three laggards consisted of real-estate and utilities, each down 0.4%, and financials, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street was slightly higher in quiet trading Wednesday, led by health-care and consumer stocks after a flood of data that suggested that the U.S. economy was growing modestly.
The Dow Jones industrial average stayed positive 10.42 points to 17,822.61.
The S&P 500 nicked up 1.3 points to 2,090.44.
The NASDAQ index strengthened 10.89 points to 5,113.70.
The data left intact expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 when it meets for the last time this year in mid-December
U.S. markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and the stock market closes at 1 p.m. EST on Friday.
On Wednesday, Amazon, up 1% at $677.55 U.S., was the biggest influence on the consumer discretionary sector, while Pfizer's 3.2% rise to $33.02 U.S. led health stocks.
Crude oil resumed its slide as investors turned their focus back to a global supply glut, but shares of Exxon and Chevron were little changed.
Heavy equipment maker Deere was up 2.2% at $78.04 U.S. after its quarterly profit beat estimates.
HP Inc., the new company that houses the former Hewlett-Packard Co's printer and PC businesses, dropped 13.3% to $12.71 U.S. after it forecast an adjusted profit for the first quarter that fell short of estimates.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, which now holds HP's corporate hardware and services businesses, rose 3.3% to $14.15 U.S. after it maintained its profit full-year profit forecast.
Economically speaking, durable goods rose 3% in October. Non-defense, ex-aircraft capital goods orders surpassed expectations with a rise of 1.3% after a revised 0.4% gain in September.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 260,000.
October U.S. personal spending rose 0.1% while personal income rose 0.4%
The parade of data continued with October’s personal consumption expenditures price index, which improved 0.2% after a similar rise in September
Data on the housing market included a 3.2% decline in weekly mortgage applications, while the FHFA home price index showed a 0.8% monthly rise in September.
October new home sales showed a gain of 10.7%,
The University of Michigan's final read on November consumer sentiment came in at 91.3, up slightly from October's final read of 90.0.
The flash November U.S. Markit services PMI came in at 56.5, besting October's final read of 54.8.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained strength, lowering yields to 2.23% from Tuesday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices settled 46 cents a barrel to $42.41 U.S.
Gold prices remained negative $3.13 to $1,072.52 U.S. an ounce.
