The Toronto stock market rose Wednesday after two days of losses on the strength of materials, mining, and energy stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 130.96 points, or 1.1%, to close the day out at 12,111.06
The Canadian dollar gained 0.38 cents, to 101.68 cents U.S.
Shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan proved the big large-cap gainer. Shares rose 3.6% to $43.56 ahead of the fertilizer producer’s first-quarter earnings on Thursday. Earlier in the day, rival Mosaic Co. cited a rapid acceleration in demand for potash and phosphate fertilizers.
Other big gainers included Teck Resources Ltd., up 3% to $36.91, and Agrium Inc. with shares up 3.1% to $86.78.
Encana Corp. shares rose 4% to $18.35, after the energy company swung to a quarterly profit on commodity price hedging gains.
Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. were down 0.9% to $33.81 following its report of quarterly earnings.
Shares of Nexen rose 0.3% to $19.06 after the oil and gas producer reported quarterly results below analyst estimates but said that repairs were complete at its Buzzard oil field in the North Sea
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.35 points to 1,371.12, while the Nasdaq Canada index galloped ahead 7.53 points to 409.62
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups advanced. Metals and mining soared 3.1%, while materials gained 2.7%, and information technology leaped 2.4%.
The lone naysayer was telecoms, off 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gained ground Wednesday, as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and continued to cheer strong corporate results from big companies including Apple and Boeing.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 89.16 points to end the day at 13,090.70, with a 5% jump in shares of Boeing leading the gains. The aerospace and defense company reported earnings that trounced Wall Street's expectations. Caterpillar was the biggest loser on the blue-chip index, after it reported revenue that fell short of forecasts.
The S&P 500 grew 18.32 points to 1,390.29, while the tech-rich Nasdaq spiked 68.03 points to 3,029.63.
All three major indexes have been up since the opening bell, on the back of stronger-than-expected financial results, but pulled back slightly leading up to Bernanke's news conference.
The indexes regained momentum after the Fed chief said that the central bank remains "entirely prepared to take additional balance sheet actions...should economy require additional support."
But the Fed was also more positive with its outlook, boosting its economic growth projection for the year and lowering its unemployment rate target.
Apple's 9% pop made it one of the biggest gainer on both indexes Wednesday. The world's most valuable company reported that its net income nearly doubled, on much stronger-than-expected iPhone sales.
Apple shares had been struggling ahead of its quarterly results, losing nearly 12% over an 11-day stretch. But Wednesday's rally helped push the stock back above $600 U.S. a share, and less than 4% away from its all-time high.
Shares of companies that make chips or accessories for iPhones also rode the good-news wave, including Cirrus Logic, Skyworks Solutions and Triquint. ARM and Qualcomm, two semiconductor companies, also gained traction.
Shares of Omnivision, which makes camera sensors for the iPhone, jumped, while Zagg, a popular maker of iPhone accessories like cases and screen protectors, also rallied.
In addition to Apple and Boeing, Wednesday also brought more strong corporate results for investors to consider, including telecom giant Sprint Nextel, health insurer Wellpoint, and glass-maker and tech supplier Corning
Sprint shares were slightly lower even after the wireless provider posted a loss that was narrower than forecasts. Wellpoint's were higher than expected, while Corning, whose Gorilla glass is used in Apple's iPhones and iPads, also topped expectations.
Harley-Davidson shares jumped after the motorcycle maker boosted its full-year production forecast.
DuPont shares rose after the company boosted its dividend by 5%.
Shares of Tyson Foods, one of the biggest U.S. beef processors, dipped slightly after at least one major South Korean retailer suspended the sale of U.S. beef Wednesday, one day after after authorities confirmed a case of "mad cow disease" in the carcass of a dairy cow in central California. But Korean authorities have not halted imports of U.S. beef. South Korea is the number-two importer of U.S. beef.
Economically, the Fed also left its key interest rate unchanged near zero and reiterated that low rates are likely to remain through late 2014.
The central bank also expects the economy to grow between 2.4% and 2.9% in 2012, which would be an improvement over 1.7% growth last year. The Fed also revised its forecasts for the labour market, predicting the unemployment rate will fall to between 7.8% and 8% by the end of the year.
Before the market open, the U.S. Commerce Department's durable goods report came in weaker than expected, with new orders for big ticket items falling 4.2% -- worse than the 1.7% drop forecast by economists.
New orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, fell 8.9%. That reading in the report is taken as a barometer of business investment.
The Mortgage Bankers Association also reported a 3.8% decline in new mortgage applications for last week, despite the exceptionally low rates on home loans.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, driving the yield up to 1.98% from Tuesday’s 1.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for May delivery slid 79 cents to $104.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery lost $1.50 to settle at $1,642.30 U.S. an ounce
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