Equity markets in Toronto rose in the first hour of Wednesday’s trading day, boosted by gains for energy and other resource stocks as oil prices rebounded, while insurer Sun Life Financial and exchange operator TMX Group fell after reporting quarterly earnings.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index started the day higher by 15.36 points to 15,584.56
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 72.95 cents U.S.
Linamar Corp, Sunopta Inc and Gluskin Sheff + Associates are some of the companies scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Linamar shares plunged 26 cents to $58.36.
Sunopta shares skyrocketed 74 cents, or 7.3%, to $10.84.
Gluskin shares gained 13 cents to $16.91.
Bombardier faced fresh pension fund opposition to the re-election of its executive chairman and the Quebec government said the plane and train maker should listen to the growing number of institutional shareholders citing governance concerns.
Bombardier shares acquired a cent to $2.06.
Sun Life Financial reported a smaller-than-expected profit on Tuesday, hurt by weak growth in its U.S market. Sun’s stock plunged $2.51, or 5.1%, to $46.37.
TMX, the company that runs the Toronto Stock Exchange, faded $4.77, or 6.1%, to $73.45.
CIBC raised the target price on CCL Industries to $340.00 from $320.00. CCL shares zoomed 89 cents to $312.00.
CIBC raised the price target on Western Forest Products to $2.50 from $2.25. Western shares gained one cent to $2.19.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.76 points to 776.90
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive to begin the day, as materials and gold climbed 1% each, while energy boosted 0.6%.
The three laggards were financials and real-estate, each off 0.2%, while consumer discretionary stocks inched back 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped on Wednesday as investors digested President Donald Trump's firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey.
The Dow slid 54 points to 20.921.78, with Disney contributing the most losses. “The Mouse” was on track for its biggest one-day decline since June after reporting weaker-than-expected quarterly sales.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.45 points to 2,395.47
The NASDAQ fell 6.8 points from Tuesday’s all-time high to 6,113.79
According to experts, 75% of the S&P 500 components that had reported as of Friday had topped bottom-line expectations, while 66% had beaten sales estimates. In all, 83% of S&P 500 companies had reported as of Friday.
In economic news, mortgage applications rose 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week. Import prices rose 0.5%, more than expected.
Investors were worried that Comey's abrupt dismissal could delay key items in the administration's agenda, including corporate tax reform and deregulation.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.37% from Tuesday’s 2.4%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 65 cents at $46.53 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices grew $6.80 at $1,222.90 U.S. an ounce.
