Markets in Canada’s biggest centre progressed early Wednesday, extending a rally into its fifth session as shares in major financial companies rose and pipeline stocks also gained.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 37.88 points to open Wednesday at 15,226.72
The Canadian dollar gained 0.53 cents to 80.48 cents U.S.
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said on Tuesday the federal government would like to finalize specifications for a new version of the tank cars used to transport crude oil by rail by the end of this month.
Manulife Financial Corp is close to an about-$1-billion deal to sell products through Singapore lender DBS Group Holdings' branch network across Asia, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. Manulife shares acquired 22 cents, or 1%, to $21.77.
Paradigm Capital cut the target price on Teck Resources to $26.00 from $28.50. Teck shares gained 16 cents to $17.54.
RBC raised the target price on CGI Group to $60.00 from $54.00. CGI shares charged ahead 84 cents, or 1.5%, to $55.84.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.60 points to 690.17
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, with metals and mining improving 1.5%, global base metals up 1.2%, and consumer staples up 0.6%.
The three laggards were gold, down 0.7%, materials, slumping 0.2%, and energy, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday amid a weaker dollar as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 95.95 points at the open to 17,971.37, with McDonald's leading gains and Apple the greatest of five blue-chip laggards.
The S&P 500 index gained 7.82 points to 2,084.15, with consumer discretionary leading eight sectors higher and utilities and telecommunications the only laggards.
The NASDAQ index regained 28.25 points to 4,938.49.
Family Dollar reported earnings that missed on both the top and bottom lines.
Alcoa kicks off corporate earnings season, with its first ports. Earnings season gets into full swing next week when major banks and technology companies report.
The initial Apple Watch reviews came out mostly positive on Wednesday morning.
Tesla announced an upgrade of its flagship Model S, featuring a larger battery pack and all-wheel drive.
Walt Disney and IMAX have renewed their movie exhibition deal, covering releases from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm.
European energy stocks surged following news that Royal Dutch Shell will buy BG Group for $70 billion U.S. in cash and stock in the first major oil company takeover deal since Chevron bought Texaco for $36 billion U.S. in 2000.
The key report for the day is the 2:00 p.m. ET publication of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes of the March meeting, when the Fed dropped "patient" from its statement as an indication it is setting up for normalization of monetary policy. However, the overall tone of the minutes is expected to remain dovish.
Total mortgage application volume rose 0.4% week-to-week on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending April 3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The move was driven entirely by a 7% surge in applications by homebuyers
The only other major economic news for the day include weekly oil inventories and a 10-year note auction.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped a bit, raising yields to 1.90% from Tuesday’s 1.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.27 to $52.71 U.S.
Gold prices fell $1.80 to $1,208.80 U.S.
Related Stories
