Equities in Canada’s biggest market warmed to the news of more favourable political tidings south of the border, and enjoyed triple-digit gains at Wednesday’s opening bell.
The S&P/TSX composite index took on 124.58 points to begin Wednesday’s session at 14,515.01, after losing nearly 150 points Tuesday.
The Canadian dollar sagged another 0.23 cents to 87.43 cents U.S.
Magna International reported a 47% jump in third-quarter earnings, boosted by strong demand in North America. Magna shares sprang up $7.27, or 6.6%, to $117.87.
Pacific Rubiales Energy said on Tuesday that it expected to produce between 81,200 and 87,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day next year from its assets in Colombia and Peru, a 22% rise over 2014. Rubiales stock lost four cents in the early going to $16.80.
RBC raised the price target on Linamar to $65 from $59, with a sector perform rating. Linamar shares popped $6.59, or 11.5%, to $64.15.
Falling oil prices will lead to lower capital spending in Western Canada next year, observers say, as both oil sands and light oil producers look to cope with less cash coming in the door.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 3.82 points to 747.30.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher in the first hour of trading, as consumer discretionary stocks climbed 2.2%, energy acquired 1.9%, and industrials took on 0.9%.
The four lagging groups were weighed mostly by gold, down 2.1%, while metals and mining and materials were each off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The U.S. stock market opened with solid gains Wednesday, sending both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average into record territory.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 58.61 points to 17,442.45
The S&P 500 regained 7.70 points to 2,019.80. The NASDAQ index prospered 5.65 points to 4,629.29.
Coca-Cola paced blue-chip gains that extended to 25 of 30 components.
Investors welcomed the results of midterm elections in which Republicans, generally viewed as business-friendly, gained control of the U.S. Senate. A better-than-expected private-sector jobs report also aided markets in the early going Wednesday.
Private employers added 230,000 jobs last month, more than estimated and the largest gain since June, according to the ADP National Employment report, which casts a positive light on the labour front two days before the payrolls report.
Separately, a measure of the services sector compiled by the information-services company Markit fell to 57.1 in October from 58.9 the month before.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries stumbled, raising yields to 2.36% from Tuesday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped 23 cents to $77.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped another $24.00 to $1,143.70 U.S. an ounce.
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