Equities in Canada’s largest centre went from mildly active to mighty before Wednesday’s closing bell, mostly on the strength of resource and consumer stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite leapt 115.73 points to finish Wednesday at 16,265.22
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.11 cents to 75.18 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were gold miners B2gold Corp, which jumped 54 cents, or 11.7%, to $5.17, and Semafo, which rose 26 cents, or 5.2%, to $5.30.
Among consumer discretionary stocks on the march, Restaurant Brands International towered over the competition, popping $3.67, or 3.7%, to $103.82, while Magna International galloped $1.50, or 2.4%, to $64.49.
In the materials sector, Franco-Nevada rocketed $3.04, or 2.5%, to $122.92, while First Majestic Silver hiked 83 cents, or 6.3%, to $13.95.
Health-care stocks, on the other hand, were somewhat off Wednesday, as Aphria dropped 38 cents, or 4%, to $9.13, while Aurora Cannabis misfired 24 cents, or 2.7%, to $8.81.
Energy companies were the biggest decliners on the TSX. Nuvista Energy plummeted 35 cents, or 13.5%, to $2.24, while Ensign Energy Services slipped 24 cents, or 6.7%, to $3.36.
On the economic front, Western University’s Ivey Purchasing Managers Index for July registered at 54.2 in July, compared to 52.4 in June, but still well below the 61.8 reading in August 2018
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.64 points to 597.33
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day, as gold brightened 2.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks triumphed 2%, and materials strengthened 1.6%
The two laggards were health-care, fading 0.9%, and energy, down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered the bulk of a nearly 600-point drop on Wednesday as a sharp decline in bond yields stabilized to temper worries over slowing economic growth.
The 30-stock recovered, before settling 22.45 points below breakeven, to 26,007.07
The S&P 500 recovered to a gain of 2.21 points to 2,883.98. This was the S&P 500's biggest intraday comeback of the year.
The NASDAQ gained 29.56 points to 7,862.83, led by Apple, after the tech-heavy index fell as much as 1.7%
Bank stocks, including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, fell as they are the one sector with the most to lose from falling interest rates. J.P. Morgan shares slid 2.1% while Bank of America dropped 1.9%. Citigroup and Wells Fargo both traded more than 1% lower.
In corporate news, Disney shares slid on weaker-than-expected results for the previous quarter. Disney’s results were weighed down by increasing losses in streaming services such as Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+. The media giant also blamed the integration of Fox’s entertainment assets for the weak numbers. Disney shares traded down more than 5%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained sharply, dropping yields to 1.60% from Tuesday’s 1.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices slid $1.26 to $52.37 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $26.50 to $1,510.70 U.S. an ounce.
