Stock markets in Toronto rose on Wednesday as financial and energy sectors led broad gains, helped in part by higher commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index had points to greet noon Wednesday at 15,205.24
The Canadian dollar spiked 0.2 cents to 79.38 cents U.S.
Financial services companies gained, with Manulife Financial up 1.7% at $25.37.
Saputo shares jumped 4.6% to $42.28 after RBC raised the dairy producer's rating to "outperform" from "market perform", helping the consumer staples group rise.
Several energy stocks were among the most influential index movers and helped hoist the overall energy group. Suncor Energy rose 1.3% to $38.25.
The materials group, home to precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength, with Teck Resources climbing 0.9% to $24.69. Copper producer First Quantum Minerals rose 0.9% to $13.54.
A stronger U.S. dollar on Wednesday pressured copper prices , but upbeat economic data out of China, which helped drive prices to a more than four-month high above $6,000 earlier this week, has bolstered overall expectations of strong demand for the metal.
Canada's largest railways edged lower, dragging the overall industrials group down. Canadian Pacific Railway, which dipped 0.6% at $205.13, will be reporting quarterly results after markets close.
On matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing in Canada jumped for the third consecutive month, up 1.1% to $54.6 billion in May, which the agency attributes to higher sales in the transportation equipment and chemical manufacturing industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed buoyant 1.03 points to 764.74
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground by noon hour, with energy gushing 2%, consumer staples darting up 0.8%, and telecoms boosted 0.6%.
The two laggards were health-care, down 0.3%, and gold, inching down 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border traded higher on Wednesday as investors digested key housing data and more quarterly earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials maintained a gain of 30.40 points Wednesday to 21,605.13, with IBM capping gains.
The S&P 500 gained 8.92 points to another intraday high of 2,469.53, with health-care leading advancers. Vertex Pharmaceuticals led the index higher.
The NASDAQ jumped 38.82 points to 6,383.12, also, a record high.
Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected second-quarter results across the board, with trading revenue coming in above expectations.
Other banks like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase saw their trading businesses struggle last quarter.
Dow-component IBM reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings per share topping expectations and sales disappointing. The company also said its revenue declined for the 21st straight quarter, pushing the stock down by 2.7% and capping gains on the price-weighted Dow.
IBM is the fifth-largest Dow component by share price.
Of the 53 S&P 500 components that had reported as of Tuesday morning, 77% exceeded earnings expectations while 75% topped on revenue
In economic news, housing starts jumped 8.3% last month, hitting their highest level since February. Mortgage applications, meanwhile, rose 6.3%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slumped a bit Wednesday, raising yields to 2.27% from Tuesday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 48 cents to $46.88 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $1.90 to $1,240.00 U.S. an ounce.
