Canada's main stock index opened higher on Wednesday, helped by a rise in healthcare shares and copper prices lifting material stocks, while expectations of a pause in interest-rate hikes in the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve meeting maintained investor sentiment.
The TSX Composite Index regained 75.12 points to kick off the mid-week session at 20,294.01
The Canadian dollar gained 0.15 cents at 74.53 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 1.12 points to 580.60.
All 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with health-care sprinting 3.2%, gold shinier by 1%, and materials stronger by 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks advanced on Wednesday morning ahead of the latest interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve as the recent pop in oil prices eased and Treasury yields backed off multi-year highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered Wednesday from big losses on Tuesday, pulling ahead 144 points to 34,661.73.
The S&P 500 index regained 13.01 points to 4,456.96.
The NASDAQ index picked up 25.4 points to 13,703.58.
Industrial names such as Caterpillar and Deere climbed more than 2% amid hopes that the Fed could successfully bring down inflation without tipping the economy into a recession.
The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady at 2 p.m. ET, but investors will be paying close attention to the summary of economic projections and the press conference of Fed chair Jerome Powell for clues as to whether the central bank will hike one more time this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury surged, lowering yields to 4.33% from Tuesday’s 4.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices retreated 23 cents to $91.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices pointed up $10.30 to $1,964 U.S. an ounce.
