Equities in Toronto opened higher on Wednesday, as gains in shares of some miners and banks helped offset weakness in the energy sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 34.47 points to open Wednesday at 15,139.21
The Canadian dollar continued its dipsy-doodle act, sliding 0.41 cents to 80.21 cents U.S.
TMX Group Ltd, the operator of Canada's biggest stock exchange, is looking to hire a sales chief as part of a reorganization initiated by recently hired Chief Executive Lou Eccleston. TMX shares doffed 45 cents to $50.36.
The Come By Chance refinery, located on the eastern island of Newfoundland, has bought Nigerian oil for the first time in at least a decade, the latest addition to the facility's diverse crude slate, according to Reuters customs data.
BMO raised the price target on Air Canada to $18.00 from $16.00. Shares in the Maple Leaf Airline inched up six cents to $14.44.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on RBC to $83.00 from $82.00. Shares in Royal, Canada’s largest bank, climbed 59 cents to $79.72.
Paradigm Capital raised the rating on Wilan Inc. to buy from hold, target price to $5.00 from $3.00. Shares in Wilan faded four cents to $2.99.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported today that our imports declined 2.5% in April and exports were down 0.7%, meaning Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $3.9 billion in March to $3.0 billion in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.02 points to 691.27
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher in the early going, led by metals and mining, charging ahead 1.2%, with industrials climbing 0.9%, and financials surging 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by energy and real-estate issues, each sinking 0.4%, and utilities, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday as investors looked at more domestic economic reports that could strengthen the case for tightening and awaited developments in the Greek debt talks.
The Dow Jones Industrials sprang to life, adding 129.39 points to begin Wednesday trading at 18,141.73, with Microsoft leading nearly all blue chips higher and Intel the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index gained 4.02 points to 2,113.62, with consumer discretionary leading seven sectors higher and utilities the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ regained 17.16 points to 5,093.68.
On the economic slate, ADP private sector payrolls increased 201,000 in May, with the service sector boosting the figure to above the expected 200,000.
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in April as exports of services hit a record high and imports fell.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday said that the U.S. trade gap shrunk to $40.9 billion U.S. in April, the largest decrease since early 2009 and down from March's revised deficit of $50.6 billion U.S.
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index came in at 55.7, nearly a year low. Analysts expected the figure to slip to 57 in May from 57.8 in April.
The U.S. Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index Services read for May showed a slight decline from April and came in below expectations at 56.2.
Other economic data out on Wednesday include the Federal Reserve's Beige Book at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet senior European officials later in the day in Brussels, where he is expected to hear the terms of a plan drawn up this week by top policymakers including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Reuters said.
Athens faces a 300-million-euro payment deadline to the International Monetary Fund this Friday.
At a press conference, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reaffirmed the continuation of ECB's asset purchase program and said he wants Greece to stay in the euro-zone. He would not comment on the Greece debt talks. Earlier in the day, the ECB left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.05%, as expected.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries collapsed, spiking yields to 2.33% from Tuesday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 54 cents a barrel to $60.72 U.S.
Gold prices dropped four dollars at $1,190.40 U.S. an ounce.
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