Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre spiked Wednesday, helped by gains in telecom shares after BCE said it would take regional telecom Bell Aliant private by buying the stake it does not already own in the company.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 79.25 points to close Wednesday at 15,394.38
The Canadian dollar was up 0.10 cents at 93.22 cents U.S.
The TSX was trading around its highs for the session, and has set a series of record highs as it has pushed higher over the past few weeks.
Oil and gas shares also rose after a report that Spanish oil company Repsol SA is considering a takeover bid for Talisman Energy .
Shares of Bell Aliant and Talisman were the two biggest contributors to the rise of the stock index, which continued to touch record highs. Bell Aliant surged 11.9% to $31.53.
Talisman was up 13.3% at $11.97.
BCE, which said it would pay $3.95 billion to take Bell Aliant private, rose 1.7% to $49.82.
Metals and mining issues were also strong, as Lundin Mining was up 2.5% to $6.28.
A sour note was struck by the information technology sector, which sank mostly on the shoulders of Celestica, which slid 3.1% to $12.15.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales in May increased 0.7% to $42.0 billion in May, with gains reported in seven of 11 subsectors, representing 56% of retail trade
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.35 points to 1,012.23.
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher Wednesday, led by telecoms, jumping 2.3%, metals and mining, up 1.4%, and energy, up 1.2%.
The three laggards were information technology, sinking 0.8%, gold, down 0.5% and financials, slipping 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks churned out another record close on Wednesday thanks to strong results from companies like Apple and Delta.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 26.91 points to 17,086.63.
The S&P 500 gained 3.48 points to 1,987.01, for its 26th record close this year.
The NASDAQ composite hiked 17.68 points to 4,473.70
Wall Street continues to applaud healthy report cards from Corporate America. Not only are the vast majority of companies beating earnings expectations, an impressive chunk are also exceeding revenue forecasts. That's a positive sign for the economy and stock prices.
Shares of Apple jumped almost 3% after the world's largest company reported a quarterly jump in sales and profits. Investors largely overlooked a more cautious outlook for the current quarter, as well as slowing iPad sales. Apple closed less than 4% away from its split-adjusted record high of nearly $101 U.S. set in September 2012.
PepsiCo also rallied nearly 3% after the food-and-beverage behemoth beat the Street and boosted its outlook for the year. The latest strong numbers from Delta Air Lines kept the airline's stock flying high. Delta closed about 4% in the green.
On the other hand, Boeing shares declined 2% after the jet maker reported a lower-than-expected revenue increase. Still, Boeing reported earnings that beat expectations and upped its outlook for the year. Tupperware Brands melted about 10.5% in response shrinking earnings and dimmed profit projections.
In after-hours action, AT&T slipped over 1% after reporting earnings that missed expectations by a penny. After flying almost 3% higher during regular trading, Facebook retreated after-hours despite posting earnings that blew away expectations.
Intuitive Surgical raced nearly 18% higher a day after the robotic surgery company posted profits and revenue that topped estimates, despite coming in lower than a year ago.
Biogen Idec provided a boost to the much-maligned biotech sector. Shares surged 11% after the drugmaker logged earnings and revenue that trounced expectations.
On the flip side, shares of Juniper Networks tumbled close to 10% after the networking-equipment company forecast soft earnings and revenue for the third quarter.
It's also been an ugly day for chip maker Xilinx. The company's shares plummeted 14.5% on disappointing revenue and a gloomy outlook for the current quarter.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.46% from Tuesday’s 2.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 62 cents to $103.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped 60 cents to $1,305.70 U.S. an ounce.
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