Equities in Toronto hit an all-time high in early trade on Wednesday, boosted by broad gains led by its heavyweight financial and natural resources sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 40.61 points to open for business Wednesday at 16,154.64
The Canadian dollar gained 0.08 cents to 77.77 cents U.S.
The Ontario Securities Commission on Tuesday scheduled a hearing on CanniMed Therapeutics' request to intervene in a hostile takeover bid by bigger rival Aurora Cannabis Inc on Dec. 20.
CanniMed shares were unchanged at $20.00
Opponents of TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline argued on Tuesday that regulators in Nebraska had no authority to approve the line's "alternative" path through the state and that the project should be considered dead.
TransCanada shares gained 45 cents to $62.92.
TD Securities raised the target price on MTY Food Group to $49.00 from $46.00
MTY shares took on 15 cents to $52.12.
RBC cut the target price on Advantage Oil & Gas to $8.00 from $9.00 with a sector perform rating.
Advantage shares gained half a cent to $5.165.
Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Stelco Holdings with an outperform rating and a $24.00 target price. Stelco shares jumped 74 cents, or 3.5%, to $22.16.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.72 points to 799.43
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, as information technology clicked ahead 0.7%, materials improved 0.5%, and industrials gained 0.4%.
The three laggards were health-care, down 0.4%, energy, off 0.1%, and consumer staples, slipping 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday as investors awaited the latest monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones industrials tacked 69.55 points onto Tuesday’s record close to 24,574.35
The S&P 500 added 5.54 points to 2,669.65, also an all-time closing high, with real estate and information technology leading advancers
The NASDAQ composite index strengthened 24.3 points to 6,886.61
In corporate news, Finisar shares surged 27% after Apple awarded it $390 million U.S. Finisar makes optical communications components which are used in Apple's iPhones.
The Fed is widely expected to raise rates by a quarter point. Market expectations for a rate hike were nearly 88% Wednesday morning. The decision is set to be announced Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
In economic news, the consumer price index — a key metric used to gauge inflation — rose 0.4% last month, as expected. Excluding food and energy, consumer prices rose 0.1%.
Investors also looked to Alabama, where Democrat Doug Jones became the projected winner of the state's Senate election. Jones upset GOP candidate Roy Moore and was set to become the first Democratic senator from Alabama in 25 years.
Jones' win trims the Republican's majority in the Senate to 51-49 and could be an obstacle for the Trump administration as it tries to push forward its business-friendly agenda.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained some ground, lowering yields to 2.39% from Tuesday’s 2.4%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 17 cents a barrel to $57.31 U.S.
Gold prices moved up $4.80 to $1,246.50 U.S. an ounce.
