Canada's main stock index opened higher on Wednesday, lifted by energy stocks, as hopes of a working COVID-19 vaccine lifted sentiment.
The TSX acquired 72.24 points to begin trading Wednesday at 16,687.61.
The Canadian dollar surrendered 0.17 cents to 76.59 cents U.S.
Great Canadian Gaming said on Tuesday that Apollo Global Management would acquire the company for about $2.16 billion through funds managed by its affiliates.
Great Canadian Gaming shares hiked $10.10, or 34.9%, to $39.01.
CIBC raised the target price on Leon's Furniture to $21.50 from $17.00. Leon’s shares ended Tuesday at $19.48.
CIBC cut the target price on Morguard Corp. to $175.00 from $195.00. Morguard concluded trading Tuesday at $110.15 a share.
CIBC raised the target price on Osisko Gold Royalties to outperform from neutral. Osisko shares docked a penny to $14.67.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.14 points to 730.30.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher at the outset, with energy surging 2.1%, information technology up 1.1%, and consumer discretionary stocks advancing 0.8%.
The three laggards were health-care, sliding 2.1%, gold, dulling 0.9%, and materials, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as a rally that was sparked by news of an effective Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine earlier this week broadened out to major tech names that have been under pressure recently.
The Dow Jones Industrials advanced 42.77 points to 29,463.69, putting it on pace for a three-day winning streak
The S&P 500 recovered 23.78 points to 3,569.31.
The NASDAQ regained 176.14 points, or 1.5%, to 11,730.
Apple gained 0.8%. Netflix climbed 0.3%. Facebook jumped 0.8%, and Amazon rose.0.9%. Alphabet and Microsoft both traded 0.8% higher.
The Dow was coming off two back-to-back strong sessions, jumping 262 points on Tuesday and surging more than 800 points on Monday following Pfizer and BioNTech’s announcement about their more than 90% effective Covid-19 vaccine.
Eli Lilly’s antibody drug was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use late Monday. The agency said the drug could be used to treat mild-to-moderate cases of Covid-19 in patients who are older than 12 years old.
The vaccine and antibody drug news comes as the United States once again topped its prior day record of daily new Covid-19 infections, on a seven-day average, while also crossing the bleak milestone of more than 10 million cases nationwide on Monday.
The seven-day average of daily new cases Monday was 108,964, a 37% increase from a week ago, according to an analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were unchanged, maintaining Tuesday’s 0.96% yield Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.26 to $42.62 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $13.90 to $1,862.50
