Equities in Toronto climbed to begin Thursday, following the rate hike announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rocketed 63.13 points to open the day at 15,584.04
The Canadian dollar backpedaled 0.03 cents to 75.18 cents U.S.
Indian Oil Corp became India's first refiner to buy light sweet Hibernia crude from Suncor Energy, completing the deal after the opening of the arbitrage for Canadian oil to flow to Asia.
Suncor shares tacked on 18 cents to $40.94.
Canada Goose Holdings has priced its initial public offering at $17.00 per
share, above its target range.
CIBC started coverage on Automotive Properties REIT with an outperform rating and $11.25 target price.
Units in Automotive Properties jumped 13 cents, or 1.2%, to $10.63.
Desjardins raised the rating on Bombardier to buy from hold. Bombardier gained 6.5 cents, or 3.1%, to $2.14.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that offshore investors increased their holdings in Canadian investment to $6.2 billion in January from $10.2 billion in December, while domestic investors hiked their holdings of foreign securities by $8.6 billion, led by purchases of U.S. instruments.
As a result, the agency says, international transactions in securities generated a net outflow of funds of $2.4 billion from the Canadian economy in the month, the first outflow since December 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 5.42 points to 812.70
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive to begin the session, as health-care improved 0.7%, financial and consumer staples each better by 0.5%.
Only gold was down, dulling in price by 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher Thursday, attempting to extend the prior day's gains on stabilizing oil prices and a less aggressive than expected Federal Reserve
The Dow Jones Industrials added 47.41 points to begin Thursday trading at 20,949.89. IBM contributed the most to gains, while Chevron and Johnson & Johnson had the greatest negative impact.
The S&P 500 inched higher 2.05 points to 2,387.31. Tech led five sectors higher, while utilities proved the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ gained 8.77 points to 5,908.81, within a quarter-percentage point of its all-time intraday high.
Stock index futures held higher after a slew of Thursday morning economic reports. The January Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey is due for release later in the morning.
Weekly initial jobless claims fell to 241,000. Housing starts rose in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.288 million, more than expected. The Philly Fed Index also topped forecasts at 32.8 for March.
The Fed raised interest rates as expected and continued to signal two additional hikes this year. Policymakers said inflation should now "stabilize" around 2% and they would continue to monitor developments relative to the Fed's "symmetric" inflation goal. Markets had generally expected indication of more aggressive tightening.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note faded, raising yields to 2.54% from Wednesday’s 2.5%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 22 cents to $48.64 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices leaped $26.80 to $1,227.50 U.S. an ounce.
