Canada's main stock index hit a one-month high on Wednesday, led by a jump in the materials sector and resource prices, as the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled a fresh round of bond buying to boost the economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index was ahead 70.73 points to close Wednesday at 12,353.09
The Canadian dollar moved ahead 0.15 cents to 101.55 cents U.S.
In the gold field, Barrick Gold Corp rose 3.2% to $34.60, and Goldcorp Inc gained 3% to $37.69.
The financial sector climbed as Royal Bank of Canada gained 0.7% to $59.28, Toronto Dominion Bank was up 0.5% at $81.00, and Bank of Nova Scotia added 0.6% to $56.81.
Information technology also had strong day, led by a 5.6% surge in the shares in Research In Motion to $13.11
Among the laggards, health-care stocks suffered, due to mostly to a 2.2% tumble in shares of Extendicare, which closed at $7.45.
Telecoms were also off, weighed by Bell Alliant, sliding 1.6% to $27.29.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.01 points to 1,184.94
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups closed higher. Gold soared 2.2%, while materials and information technology advanced 1.7% each.
The three laggards were health-care, 0.5% less robust, while telecoms and energy dipped 0.4% each.
ON WALLSTREET
With an investor base numb to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s multi-year long stimulus programs, U.S. stocks logged only modest gains Wednesday, despite the Fed's announcement that its economic stimulus programs would continue.
The Dow Jones Industrials was down 2.99 points to adjourn Wednesday at 13,245.50
The S&P 500 took on but 0.45 points to 1,428.29, while the Nasdaq Composite Index tailed off 8.49 points to 3,013.81
On the corporate front, Costco posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal first quarter.
DuPont shares gained ground after the chemical company announced a $1-billion U.S. share buyback program and updated its 2012 earnings guidance to the high end of its previous range.
Nasdaq announced plans to acquire three investing communications divisions from Thomson Reuters for $390 million U.S.
Shares of Berkshire Hathaway were briefly halted ahead of an announcement that Warren Buffett's firm bought 9,200 of its Class A shares for $131,000 U.S. apiece from the estate of a long-time shareholder.
Netflix shares rose after Morgan Stanley analysts increased their price target on the video rental company.
Shares of Netflix rival Coinstair also rose after it announced plans to team up with Verizon on a product to compete with Netflix's offerings.
The central bank's decision to continue its so-called quantitative easing was expected by investors. The Fed said it will be purchasing longer-dated Treasuries after Operation Twist ends later this month.
Fed officials said they would buy $45 billion U.S. of Treasuries each month beginning in 2013, and would also continue buying $40 billion U.S. of mortgage-backed securities.
Citing moderate economic activity, the central bank said it will continue buying bonds until the unemployment rate hits 6.5%. It currently stands at 7.9%. In its growth forecasts, the Fed said the unemployment rate will fall to between 7.4% and 7.7% by the end of 2013.
The Federal Reserve also lowered its 2013 growth outlook to between 2.3% and 3%, down from its September forecast of at least 2.5% growth.
Aside from the Fed, investors are keeping close tabs on fiscal cliff negotiations.
During a morning press conference, House Speaker John Boehner and Republican members of Congress gave investors few reasons to be optimistic about bipartisan cooperation over the fiscal cliff negotiations. "
Treasury prices on the 10-year note lost more ground, raising the yield to 1.70% from Tuesday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved $1.04 a barrel to $86.83 U.S.
Gold prices hiked $3.80 an ounce to $1,713.40 U.S.
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