Stocks in Toronto rumbled out of the pit into which they stumbled Tuesday, helped along by tech and health-care issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index surged 261.2 points, or 1.2%, to close Wednesday at 21,493.23.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.46 cents to 78.04 cents U.S.
Tech stocks led the charge upward, with Shopify leaping $93.21, or 14%, to $757.08.
Nuvei Corporation popped $8.74, or 13.6%, to $72.93.
MOGO Corp. increased in price 30 cents, or 11.9%, to $2.82.
Nutrien lost 78 cents to $121.44.
TC Energy fell 74 cents, or 1%, to $71.29, after it signed an option agreement to sell a 10% stake in Coastal GasLink to Indigenous communities, in an attempt to give more authority to the groups who have traditionally held the land for the pipeline project.
Elsewhere in the energy sector, Cenovus lost $1.16, or 5.5%, to $20.21, while Westport Fuel Systems sank 45 cents, or 17.3%, to $2.15.
Gold stocks took a beating, with Barrick dropping $1.54, or 4.7%, to $31.16.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged ahead 2.47 points to end the midweek session at 851.32.
Of the 12 subgroups, all but three were positive, with information technology moving ahead 6.5%, health-care up 3.7%, and consumer discretionary improving 3.4%.
The three laggards were energy, sliding 3.6%, gold, fading 1.9%, and materials, back-pedaling 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks posted sharp gains on Wednesday as recently surging commodity prices, especially oil, cooled off while the war in Ukraine continues.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 653.61 points, or 2%, to 33,286.25, helped by gains in Salesforce, Nike and JPMorgan.
The S&P 500 hiked 107.18 points, or 2.6%, to 4,277.88, to post its best day since June 2020
The NASDAQ Composite leaped 460 points, or 3.6%, to 13,169.05, for its best day since November 2020, boosted by strong gains in mega-cap technology darlings.
The gains came amid an easing in commodity prices that have spooked the broader market. Energy and agriculture products in particular have catapulted higher amid the fighting in Ukraine, while some metals also have posted major gains.
Technology stocks pushed the major averages higher with Netflix gaining 5% and Microsoft adding 4.6%. Meta Platforms picked up 4.3% and Alphabet rose 5%.
Certain consumer-related stocks roared back on Wednesday after weakness on fears that higher gas prices would dent consumer spending. Nike rose 4.7% and Starbucks added 4.3%.
Airlines and cruise lines were also higher on Wednesday. Carnival Corp. rose 8.8% and United Air Lines advanced 8.3%.
Bank stocks moved higher as yields rose. Bank of America rose 6.4% and Wells Fargo increased 5.8%. Goldman Sachs added 3.8%.
Energy stocks were lower on Wednesday following a strong session Tuesday after President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian fossil imports, including oil, in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
On the economic data front, job openings outnumbered available workers by nearly five million in January, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.
Total vacancies actually dipped a bit, falling to 11.26 million following a substantial upward adjustment in December’s numbers, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed.
Treasury prices faded, bringing yields to 1.94% from 1.85% Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $13.45 to $110.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subsided $45.40 to $1,997.90 U.S. an ounce.
