Equities in Canada’s biggest market Wednesday stocks clawed back some losses from the start of the week, offsetting energy and mining stocks that slid as crude oil prices fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 34.88 points to greet noon at 12,317.53
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.51 cents to 71.61 cents U.S.
The biggest shakers included Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 1.5% to $68.62, and Toronto-Dominion Bank, which advanced 0.9% to $50.74.
Technology stocks also rallied, led by a 9.6% jump in shares of Open Text Corp to $65.25.
The energy group fell as oil remained defensive after posting its third-biggest daily fall since the 2008 financial crisis the day before. U.S. crude prices were down 0.3% to $27.85 a barrel.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 2.1% to $27.54, while Suncor Energy Inc was down 0.9% at $29.67.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metal miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground as Goldcorp fell 5.2% to $18.61 as gold stabilized below a seven-and-a-half-month high.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 1.04 points to 506.53
All but three of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, with information technology gaining 2.7%, health-care improving 1.6%, and consumer discretionary stocks 1.1% to the good.
The three laggards were energy, dimming 1%, utilities, off 0.6%, and metals and mining, dropping 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher on Wednesday as investors digested remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as well as a
turnaround in the financial sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average faded 10.53 points to 16,003.85, with Nike leading advancers and Walt Disney the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 added 14.35 points to 1,866.56, led higher by health-care and information technology.
The NASDAQ index stayed positive 49.98 points, or 1.2%, to 4,318.75, as technology stocks gained ground. Netflix moved 5% higher, and Alphabet shares gained 1.7%.
Earnings season continued Wednesday morning, with Time Warner and Humana, among others, reporting before the bell. Cisco Systems, Tesla Motors, Twitter and Whole Foods are scheduled to report after the bell.
Yellen delivered her remarks to Congress this morning, in which she noted that, if the U.S. economy were to disappoint, the Fed would have to reconsider its rate hike path.
Petroleum prices briefly jumped more than 3.5% after the Energy Information Administration said that U.S. oil inventories fell 0.8 million barrels.
The oil market has been maligned by oversupply concerns throughout the year, pushing U.S. crude down about 24% this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained strength, lowering yields to 1.72% from Tuesday’s 1.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 31 cents a barrel to $27.63 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher $4.42 to $1,193.55 U.S. an ounce.
