Canada's main stock index rose for the third straight session on Wednesday, hitting a two-and-a-half-week high as energy stocks led broad gains across the board, bucking broader market trends.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 74.45 points to greet noon at 14,979.36
The Canadian dollar lost 0.58 cents to 80.54 cents U.S.
Among base metals, Imperial Metals Inc. soared 86 cents, or 8.6%, to $10.91, while Major Drilling Group gained 27 cents, or 4.4%, to $6.35.
Suncor Energy Inc was by far the top-weighted stock on the positive side, rising 2.7% to $35.71. Canadian Natural Resources was close behind, advancing 1.5% to $36.47.
Royal Bank of Canada shares rose 0.7% to $78.52, while Brookfield Asset Management added 1.3% to $45.04. First Quantum Minerals climbed 3.7% to $18.24.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 1.74 points to 684.94
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher, global base metals leading the parade, up 1.6%, metals and mining up 1.4%, and telecoms jumping 0.9%.
Only industrials sank, and only 0.4% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Wednesday as discouraging developments in the Greece debt talks weighed on investor sentiment, amid domestic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 87.48 points to pause for lunch at 18,056.59, with DuPont leading laggards and Apple leading a handful of advancers.
The S&P 500 index moved lower 4.87 points to 2,119.33, with materials leading nine sectors lower and information technology the only advancer.
The NASDAQ dipped 9.70 points to 5,150.39
After the close on Tuesday, Netflix announced a seven-for-one stock split, payable on July 14 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 2. The stock spiked more than 2% to a record high on Wednesday and held higher amid news that activist investor Carl Icahn sold the last of his shares in the video streaming service.
In corporate news, Sysco's planned merger with U.S. Foods has been temporarily blocked by a judge for further review.
Kroger, SuperValu and other supermarket stocks are in focus after Dutch supermarket operator Ahold announced a deal to buy Belgium's Delhaize. Ahold operates the Stop&Shop and Giant chains in the United States, while Delhaize is the parent of Food Lion. Tyson Foods and McCormick hit all-time highs on Wednesday.
Homebuilders jumped after Lennar topped earnings estimates on both the top and bottom lines as the housing market improved.
In U.S. economic news, the final read on first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data showed a decline of 0.2%, in-line with expectations and above a previous estimate of a 0.7% contraction.
The improved read supports the improving trend in more recent economic reports that indicate moderate growth in the second quarter. Better performance strengthens the Federal Reserve's case for raising short-term interest rates as early as September.
Encouragingly, consumer spending was revised up to 2.1% from the initial 1.8%.
The U.S. Treasury is scheduled to auction $35 billion of five-year notes at 1 p.m. ET.
A Greek government official said that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had told associates that Greece's proposed measures had not been accepted by creditors, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Prior to the news, recent reports had indicated progress towards a resolution ahead of Greece's June 30 payment deadline to the International Monetary Fund on June 30. The Eurogroup meets in Brussels on the matter at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.40% from Tuesday’s 2.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted 89 cents a barrel to $60.12 U.S.
Gold prices erased $4.50 at $1,172.10 U.S. an ounce.
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