Stocks in Toronto managed to hold their own Wednesday, thanks to solidity in health-care and consumer stocks, which overcame weakness in resource issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 27.82 points to close Wednesday at 16,326.70
The Canadian dollar slid 0.01 cents at 80.47 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks had the best time of it Wednesday, with Canopy Growth gaining 99 cents, or 2.7% to $37.51 after saying on Tuesday it had signed an agreement to supply cannabis to Prince Edward Island. Cannabis rival Aphria Inc. acquired 34 cents, or 1.6%, to $21.99.
In the consumer discretionary field, Magna International barged ahead $2.01, or 2.8%, to $74.21, while Canadian Tire gained 24 cents to $170.69.
Energy stocks were more energetic, with Suncor Energy moving up 35 cents to $47.41, while Imperial Oil climbed 94 cents, or 1.9%, to $39.90.
Gold stocks, however, took their lumps, as Goldcorp lost 85 cents, or 4.4%, to $18.28. The miner's chief executive officer said the company is "done" with mergers and acquisitions and will focus on building new mines at projects it already owns and on improving existing operations.
Barrick ducked lower 65 cents, or 3.4%, to $18.23.
Materials were also in the red, with First Majestic Silver deducting 12 cents, or 1.3%, to $9.01, while Agnico Eagle Mines fell 67 cents, or 1.1%, to $58.90.
Industrials struggled, too, as Air Canada let go of 13 cents to $22.94, while Canadian Pacific Railways reversed 57 cents to $225.16.
The Bank of Canada did as expected Wednesday morning and raised rates to 1.25% on the back of strong jobs growth, even amid uncertainty around the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1.5% and the deposit rate is 1%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.31 points to 884.96
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as consumer discretionary and health-care each triumphed 1%, with energy gushing 0.9%.
The three laggards were gold, dulling in price 1.4%, materials, off 0.8%, and industrials, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded higher on Wednesday following the release of stronger-than-expected quarterly results from some of the biggest U.S. companies.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 322.79 points, or 1.3%, to 26,115.65, closing above 26,000 for the first time.
The S&P 500 gained 26.14 points to 2,802.56, with staples and tech rising more than 1%. The index also posted a record close. Tech stocks got a boost from Apple, which erased losses after announcing plans to repatriate billions in overseas cash. The stock closed 1.7% higher.
The NASDAQ composite index hiked 74.59 points, or 1%, to 7,298.28, a record.
Bank of America reported adjusted quarterly earnings that surpassed analyst estimates. U.S. Bancorp also posted better-than-expected results.
Earnings season is off to a strong start thus far. Of the S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Friday, 78% have surpassed earnings-per-share estimates while 89% have beaten expectations on the top line
Shares of Juno Therapeutics spiked 51.8% higher after The Wall Street Journal reported the company was in talks to be acquired by Celgene.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sagged, raising yields to 2.57% from Tuesday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 17 cents a barrel to $63.90 U.S.
Gold prices stumbled $8.10 to $1,329 U.S. an ounce.
