Canada's main stock index hit a three-month high in early trade on Wednesday, as optimism over global coronavirus recovery efforts lifted sentiment following an interest rate decision (or lack of it) by the Bank of Canada.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 173.81 points, or 1.1%, to arrive at noon EDT Wednesday at 15,568.17
The Canadian dollar progressed 0.2 cents at 74.13 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Baytex Energy, which jumped six cents, or 10.2%, to 65 cents, and Canada Goose Holdings, which rose $4.03, or 13.8, to $33.16.
MAG Silver Corp fell 91 cents, or 5.3%, the most on the TSX, to $16.27. The second-biggest decliner was Wheaton Precious Metals, down $3.02, or 5.4%, to $53.36.
The Bank of Canada did as expected, holding its trendsetting rate at 0.25%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 0.5% and the deposit rate is 0.25%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 5.1 points midday to 554.68.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground by lunch time, led by financials, charging ahead 3.1%, consumer discretionary stocks, galloping 2.4%, and real-estate, strengthening 2.1%.
The two laggards were gold, down 3.8%, and materials, off 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose sharply on Wednesday on the back of better-than-expected economic data, which bolstered optimism over the recovery from coronavirus-led shutdowns.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 422.29 points, or 1.6%, to reach noon Wednesday at 26,164.94. Wednesday’s gain put the Dow on pace for its third consecutive gain.
The S&P 500 added 36.59 points to 3,117.02. The S&P 500 is up more than 1% so far in June, bringing its gain from its pandemic low in March to more than 40%.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 61.13 points to 9,669.51.
The NASDAQ 100 index, which tracks the 100-largest non-financial companies in the NASDAQ Composite, entered Wednesday less than 0.5% from its record high set Feb. 19.
The index has rallied 42.6% from an intraday low set on March 23. Those gains have been provided in large part by stocks that benefited from people staying at home due to the coronavirus.
Stocks poised to benefit from the economy reopening rose broadly. American, Delta and United Airlines all gained more than 2%. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America also climbed at least 2.9% each.
Meanwhile, shares of companies that surged during stricter stay-at-home orders lagged. Amazon dipped 0.1% and Netflix slid 0.9%. Zoom Video and Shopify dropped 1.1% each.
Market sentiment was also lifted after ADP and Moody’s Analytics reported private payrolls fell by another 2.76 million in May. The ADP number was far less than the 8.75-million estimate.
The reason for the wide disparity was not immediately clear. Data from the Institute for Supply Management showed the U.S. services sector contracted less than expected, rebounding from an 11-year trough.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury plummeted, raising yields to 0.75% from Tuesday’s 0.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tailed off two cents to $36.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $29.60 to $1,704.40 U.S. an ounce.
