Stocks in Canada’s major centre rose on Wednesday, led by Canadian Pacific Railway after it reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit after the bell on Tuesday, while financial and energy shares also gained ground.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index picked up where it left off Tuesday, tacking on 32.11 points to begin Wednesday at 15,849.01
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.08 cents to 79.98 cents U.S.
Boeing Co said on Tuesday that Bombardier's CSeries jets could still be hit with high U.S. import duties, even if they are assembled in Alabama through an industry-changing deal with Airbus.
Bombardier shares ditched two cents to $2.71.
Corus Entertainment reported a better-than-expected profit on Wednesday as the media company benefited from cost savings.
Corus shares slid 29 cents, or 2.3%, to $12.45.
National Bank of Canada upped the target price on Canadian Pacific Railway to $226.00. CP shares hiked $11.75, or 5.6%, to $221.42.
Desjardins started coverage on GDI Integrated Facility Services with buy rating. GDI shares docked four cents to $15.49.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales increased 1.6% to $53.5 billion in August, breaking a two-month losing streak. The gain was mainly attributable to higher sales in the transportation equipment, and petroleum and coal product industries.
Sales were up in eight of the 21 industries, representing 66% of the Canadian manufacturing sector.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.52 points to start Wednesday at 790.56
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the day’s first hour, as industrials hoisted 1.1%, consumer discretionary stocks took on 0.9%, and energy advanced 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 0.5%, gold, off 0.4%, and consumer staples, retreating 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
America’s blue-chip stock index rose on Wednesday after tech giant IBM reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrials index leaped 116.69 points over Tuesday’s all-time record to 23,114.13,
The S&P 500 squeezed higher two points to 2,561.36
The NASDAQ slid 3.22 points to 6,620.44
IBM posted adjusted earnings per share of $3.30 on revenue of $19.15 billion Tuesday after the close. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of $3.28 per share on sales of $18.6 billion.
The company's stock surged more than 8% in early trade and was on track for its biggest one-day rise since January 2009.
The IT giant also reported its 22nd consecutive quarter of declining revenue, however.
This earnings season has gotten off to a good start, with more than 80% of companies that have reported beating on the bottom line, while 73% have topped sales estimate
Companies that reported Wednesday before the bell included Abbott Labs, M&T Bank and Supervalu.
Northern Trust also posted quarterly results, beating top and bottom-line estimates. The company's stock rose 5% and was the second-best performer on the S&P 500, which hit an intraday record in early trade.
United Continental, eBay and Dow component American Express are set to report after the close Wednesday.
Hopes of U.S. tax reform have received a boost lately after the House passed a $4.1-trillion budget. The Senate is expected to vote on a budget bill this week.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note regained lost strength, lowering yields to Tuesday’s 2.3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up 13 cents a barrel to $52.00 U.S.
Gold prices settled $4.30 to $1,281.90 U.S.
