CORRECTS WORDING IN SECOND GRAF
Equities in Toronto rose modestly on Wednesday, after higher oil prices lifted the energy sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved up 24.73 points to begin Wednesday at 16,526.93
The Canadian dollar gained 0.24 cents at 75.09 cents U.S.
BofA Merrill initiated coverage on Aurora Cannabis with a "buy" rating and $15.00 price target. Aurora shares gained eight cents to $11.90.
TD Securities cut the price target on Turquoise Hill Resources to $5.00 from $5.50. Turquoise Hill shares gathered five cents, or 2.4%, to $2.15.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Hexo Corp up 25 cents to 3.2%, to $8.15, and First Quantum Minerals, rising 37 cents, or 2.3%, to $16.38.
Aphria fell 41 cents, or 4.1%, the most on the TSX, to $11.11, after Cormark Securities cut its price target on the cannabis producer.
The second-biggest decliner was Western Forest Products, down seven cents, or 3.6%, to $1.86, after TD Securities downgraded the company's stock to "hold" from "buy".
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada’s consumer price index rose 1.9% on a year-over-year basis in March, following a 1.5% increase in February. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.3% in March.
Also, Canada's imports declined 1.6% in February, while exports were down 1.3%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed slightly, from $3.1 billion in January to $2.9 billion in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.61 points to 612.58
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were ahead in the first hour, with health-care soaring 1%, while materials and industrials 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, down 0.8%, communications, sliding 0.6%, and utilities, off 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks struggled to retain gains from earlier in the day as Wall Street pored through the latest batch of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average deducted 17.19 points to 26,435.47
The S&P 500 skidded 0.84 points to 2,906.22
The NASDAQ Composite gained 9.88 points to 8,010.06
IBM reported better-than-expected earnings, but its stock fell 5.5% as its revenue fell for a third straight quarter. Netflix also fell 1.6% as its guidance for second-quarter earnings disappointed investors.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley shares rose 1.3% after posting earnings and revenue that topped expectations. The banking giant’s results were boosted by sales in its wealth management and fixed income trading divisions.
PepsiCo also reported stronger-than-forecast earnings as sales in its Frito-Lay business grew by 5.5%. The stock rose 2.7%. Rail transportation giant CSX, meanwhile, saw its stock rise more than 5% on the back of its quarterly results.
Qualcomm, meanwhile, rallied 13% — adding to a sharp rise in the previous session — as investors continued to cheer the chipmaker settling a lawsuit with tech giant Apple.
Qualcomm’s rally lifted the broader chipmaker space.
Overall, 84.6% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported calendar first-quarter earnings have topped analyst expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were slightly higher, lowering yields to 2.59% from Tuesday’s 2.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained seven cents to $64.12 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked 80 cents to $1,276.40 U.S. an ounce.
