Equity markets in Toronto opened higher on Wednesday, mirroring gains in Wall Street after U.S. consumer price data came mostly in line with expectations, with energy stocks boosting the sentiment further.
The S&P/TSX Composite jumped 153.91 points to open Wednesday at 21,428.72.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.41 cents to 79.92 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold’s CEO said on Wednesday he expects solid demand for metals in the long term, but cautioned copper will face supply constraints.
Shares in the world’s largest gold company docked 14 cents to $23.59.
Teck Resources said on Wednesday that a union representing more than 1,000 workers at its British Columbia mine could potentially go on strike as early as Sunday.
Teck shares hiked $1.13, or 2.8%, to $41.89.
ATB Capital Markets raised the price target on Canadian Natural Resources to $69.00 from $65.00.
Natural Resources stock advanced 88 cents, or 1.5%, to $61.59.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on Organigram Holdings to speculative buy from hold. Organigram shares were unchanged at $2.18.
CIBC initiated coverage on Victoria Gold with an outperform rating. Victoria shares acquired 22 cents, or 1.5%, to $14.74.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 10.15 points, or 1.1%, to 920.82.
All but four of the 12 TSX subgroups moved upward in the first hour, energy leading the way, up 1.9%, materials, better by 1.4%, and information technology, ahead 1.3%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 0.8%, utilities, eking back 0.1%, and gold, duller by 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks moved higher on Wednesday after a key inflation report showed a historic gain but largely matched expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 141.88 points to 36,393.90.
The S&P 500 gathered 42.78 advanced 31.07 points to 4,744.14
The NASDAQ Composite tacked on 141.13 points to 15,294.58.
Stocks tied to economic growth were some of the stronger performers in early trading, with Caterpillar rising 1% and Freeport-McMoRan jumping 5%. Software giant Microsoft added 2%.
Dish Network rose 3% following news that the company is again in merger talks with DirectTV, according to sources who spoke with the New York Post. On the downside, Biogen shares tumbled nearly 9% following news that Medicare will only cover the cost for the company’s Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm for patients with early-stage symptoms who are enrolled in clinical trials.
Meanwhile, big banks will kick off the fourth-quarter earnings season on Friday. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are slated to release quarterly results before the bell.
The moves come after the December reading for the consumer price index, a gauge of prices across a broad spectrum of goods, showed a gain of 7% year over year. That is the biggest jump since 1982, but was in-line with expectations from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The monthly increase was slightly hotter than expected.
However, interest rates already moved sharply higher in the first week of 2022, sparking a selloff in tech stocks. That suggests the hot inflation report, and future actions by the Federal Reserve, may be at least partially priced in to the market.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained some ground, lowering yields to 1.73% from Tuesday’s 1.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 91 cents to $82.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices grew $5.30 to $1,823.80 U.S. an ounce.
