Equities were again in the winner’s circle in Toronto, as investors digested new word from the U.S. Federal Reserve and domestic wholesale trade.
The S&P/TSX composite index powered up 84.78 points to close Wednesday at 15,561.95. The market has run its winning streak to five straight sessions and is up 14% since January 1.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.2 cents at 91.22 cents U.S.
The industrial sector advanced, with Canadian Pacific Railway rising 1.7% to $219.84 and Canadian National Railway adding 1.6% to $76.24.
Shares of energy producers climbed with the oil price. Suncor Energy gained 1% to $43.66.
Among gold miners, Barrick Gold gave back 0.3% to $20.54, but Goldcorp gained 0.2% to $31.14.
Speaking of things economic, Statistics Canada reported this morning that wholesale sales rose 0.6% to $53.0 billion in June, a third consecutive increase.
The agency says gains in five sub-sectors, which together represented 69% of wholesale sales, more than offset a decline in motor vehicle and parts. Excluding this latter sub-sector, wholesale sales rose 1.2%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sagged 0.86 points to 996.70
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, as metals and mining jumped 2%, global base metals leaped 1.5%, and industrials improved 1.1%.
The only naysayer was consumer staples, down 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, shaking off a dip that came after Federal Reserve minutes indicated that policy makers talked at their last meeting about a sooner-than-anticipated hike to interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved up 59.54 points to wind up Wednesday at 16,979.13
The S&P 500 moved higher 4.91 points to 1,986.51. The NASDAQ dipped 1.03 points to 4,526.48.
Staples reported a drop in quarterly profit and sales. Apple gained less than 0.1% to close at $100.57 U.S. for an all-time split-adjusted closing high. It also hit an intraday split-adjusted record of $101.09 U.S.
Hertz Global Holdings shares slumped 3.9% after the rental-car company said it expects to be “well below the low end” of guidance. Losses had been steeper, but then activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a stake in Hertz.
Apple scored a record close for the second day in a row.
Lowe’s rose 1.6%, while Target finished up 1.8%. Each retailer had dropped earlier Wednesday after cutting its guidance.
Fed officials debated at their July meeting whether to move faster than expected to start raising interest rates in light of an improving job market and rising inflation, said a Wall Street Journal report on the minutes. But the officials decided they needed more evidence before concluding that was the right approach
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries regained strength, lowering yields to Tuesday’s 2.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.92 to $96.40 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $4.80 at $1,291.90 U.S. an ounce.
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