Stocks on Bay St were trading higher in afternoon action Wednesday led by an advance in energy stocks. Financial stocks were also positive after the sector got a boost from Royal Bank's rise in third-quarter profit.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 103.14 points in afternoon trading Wednesday to 15088.10.
Royal Bank of Canada on Wednesday reported a rise in third-quarter profit, helped by double-digit growth at its wealth management business which offset a weaker showing in its capital markets unit. Net income at Canada's biggest lender, excluding one-off items such as a gain on the sale of its home and auto insurance business last year, increased to C$2.8 billion for the quarter to June 30, 5 percent higher than a year earlier.
Earnings per share reached C$1.89 compared with an average analyst forecast of C$1.87. A year earlier, RBC posted an EPS of C$1.72. The bank announced a 5 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to C$0.91 per share.
The future of the North American Free Trade Agreement looks uncertain after President Donald Trump said he has doubts that a deal can be renegotiated. At a campaign rally on Tuesday evening, Trump told the Arizona crowd, "Personally, I don't think we can make a deal ... I think we'll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point." Mexico, Canada and the U.S. entered into negotiations this month to adjust with the agreement, a deal that has been in force since 1994. Trump railed against free trade on the campaign trail, arguing that it was decimating the U.S manufacturing sector.
The Canadian dollar moved lower on Trump's comments, down 0.004 cents to 79.61 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 2.08 points to 766.36.
Two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative Wednesday afternoon, with consumer staples stocks retreating 0.33% and health-care issues slumping 0.02%.
On the upside, energy stocks were ahead 1.47%, base metal stocks rose 1.20% and financial issues gained 0.99%.
Gold prices were up $3.04 to $1,287.74 U.S. an ounce.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were trading lower in afternoon action Wednesday, with the main indexes pulling back from the previous session as investors turned their attention to the Jackson Hole, Wyo., meeting of global central bankers and President Donald Trump said he would be willing to let the government shut down without appropriations for a border wall.
"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said at a rally in Arizona.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 69 points, or 0.3%, to 21,829. The S&P 500 index fell 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,444 and the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index declined 15 points, or 0.2%, to 6,276.
Markets were looking ahead to central bank activity at the end of the week. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and her European counterpart Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, will speak at the annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a highly anticipated yearly event that stretches from Thursday, Aug. 24, to Saturday, Aug. 26.
In economic news, the purchasing managers index fell to 52.5, a two-month low in August, while services business activity index rose to 56.9, the highest level in 28 months. Separately, a reading of new homes sales fell 9.4% in July.
On the corporate front, Walmart Stores, under a new partnership with Alphabet Inc.'s Google, will allow shoppers to make purchases through the voice-activated device Google Home, the Google Express app or its website. A Google assistant will be assigned to each customer to fulfill the order and set it up to be delivered to their homes. Shares of Walmart rose 0.14% on Wednesday.
Apple Inc. has scrapped the idea of an Apple-branded autonomous vehicle and is instead working on the underlying technology that allows a car to drive itself, the New York Times reported. To that end, the company is developing a self-driving shuttle service that ferries employees from one Apple building to another, said sources.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note traded at 2.187 percent, while the yield on the two-year note was lower at 1.313 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
October Brent crude rose 57 cents, or 1.1%, to $52.44 a barrel.
