Wednesday proved a day of strong gains for equities in Toronto, particularly those in the tech and resource fields.
The TSX continued to exhibit strength, popping 172.49 points, or 1%, to end Wednesday at 16,789.97.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.09 cents to 76.05 cents U.S.
Tech stocks were particularly lively Wednesday. Shopify charged ahead $68.67, or 5%, to $1,433.78, while Photon Control popped eight cents, or 5%, to $1.68.
Gold shone brighter, particularly, Teranga Gold, which increased 60 cents, or 4.1%, to $15.13, while NovaGold acquired 57 cents, or 4.7%, to $12.79.
Materials also muscled up, as Hudbay Minerals picked up 28 cents, or 5.3%, to $5.61, while Silvercorp Metals gained 66 cents, or 5.7%, to $12.27.
Energy stocks continued to falter, with Whitecap Resources turfing 13 cents, or 4.9%, to $2.50, while Seven Generations Energy toppling 21 cents, or 4.5%, to $4.25.
Communications stocks also fell, with Corus Enertainment slipped 11 cents, or 3.3%, to $3.27, while Cineplex teetered 22 cents, or 2.4%, to $8.96.
Among consumer staples, Primo Water lopped 37 cents, or 2%, to $18.36, while Saputo skidded 48 cents, or 1.4%, to $33.70.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 15.64 points, or 2.2%, to 729.87
The 12 TSX subgroups were neatly divided, with information technology ahead 3%, while gold and materials each climbed 2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, backpedaling 2.1%, while communications and consumer staples shied away 0.5% each.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite rose to fresh record highs on Wednesday, building on their massive rallies off the March lows, as tech shares led the way higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed the day with a gain of 83.48 points to 28,331.92.
The S&P 500 kept added 35.11 points to Tuesday’s all-time record at 3,478.73.
The NASDAQ Composite leaped 198.59 points, or 1.7%, from Tuesday’s all-time record close to 11,665.06.
Shares of Salesforce surged 26% after the software company posted blowout earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Salesforce will be added to the Dow at the end of August, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Monday. The changes are driven by Apple’s coming stock split, which will reduce the technology weighting in the price-weighted average.
Facebook jumped 8.2%, and Netflix acquired 11.6%. Amazon advanced nearly 3% while Alphabet collected 2.4%, and Microsoft gained 2.2%. Apple rose 1.4%.
Wednesday’s gains put the S&P 500 up more than 58% since hitting an intraday low on March 23. The NASDAQ has soared by 75% in that time period.
Moderna said its coronavirus vaccine showed promising results in a small trial of patients ages 56 and older. The company’s stock jumped 6.4% on the news.
U.S. durable goods orders jumped by 11.2% in July, easily topping a 4.3% estimate. However, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George told the media the risk of a double-dip recession is increasing.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury regained lost strength, dropping yields to back to Tuesday’s 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained four cents to $43.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices vaulted $37.50 to $1,960.60 U.S. an ounce.
