Stocks in North America halted their rout on Wednesday, anticipating a reprieve from bad news about China as its markets will be closed for the next two days.
The S&P/TSX composite index reverted to positive territory 63.35 points to close Wednesday at 13,545.25, after Tuesday’s decline of more than 370 points.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.11 cents to 75.33 cents U.S.
The main engine of the rally proved to be in health-care, as Extendicare grew in price 40 cents, or 5.1%, to $8.22, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals gained $10.55, 3.6%, to $306.75.
Among consumer staples, which also started, Alimentation Couche-Tard zoomed $2.59, or 4.6%, to $59.29, while George Weston hiked $2.22, or 2.1%, to $110.17.
Global base metals also prospered, as First Quantum Minerals moved forward 27 cents, or 4.4%, to $6.41, while Trevali Mining gained two cents, or 3.9% , to 53 cents.
Utilities weighed most on the losing subgroups, as Northland Power took it on the chin 67 cents, or 4.2%, to $15.33, while Fortis Inc. backpedaled $1.02, or 2.9%, to $34.26.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed upward 2.08 points to 550.05
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher, as health-care soared 4.6%, while consumer staples and global base metals advanced 2% each.
The five laggards were weighed most by utilities, off 1.8%, energy, sliding 1.1%, and gold, down 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday, partly recovering from the worst start to September in 13 years, as investors eyed calmer global markets, domestic data, and oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average leaped 293.03 points, or 1.8%, to 16,351.38.
Apple surged 4.3% and Microsoft leaped 3.7% to lead nearly all blue chips higher, while information technology led all S&P sectors higher.
The iPhone maker's stock attempted gains for 2015 but remained in correction territory.
The S&P 500 hiked 35 points to 1,948.85.
The NASDAQ index soared 113.88 points, or 2.5%, to 4,749.98
U.S. stocks closed nearly 3% lower on Tuesday for the worst first day of September trade since 2002. The Dow and S&P ended 2.5% above lows hit during last week's selloff.
Vera Bradley earnings came out before the bell. The handbag and accessories maker reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue, helped by new products and marketing, Reuters reported. The firm also forecast third-quarter earnings from continuing operations and revenue above analysts' estimates.
In other corporate results before the bell, Ambarella reported adjusted quarterly profit of 88 cents U.S. per share, beating estimates of 80 cents, while revenue was also above forecasts. However, the maker of video processing chips is seeing its shares under pressure, following a report warning of possible risks to GoPro's third quarter results. Ambarella is one of GoPro's key suppliers.
H&R Block posted a loss of 35 cents U.S. per share, five cents less than analysts had anticipated. Revenue beat estimates, and the company also announced a $3.5-billion U.S. stock buyback program.
After a recent rally, crude settled 7.7% lower on Tuesday and extended losses following a greater-than-expected inventory build in API data.
July's factory orders rose 0.4%, below consensus expectations for a 0.9% increase. The second-straight month of increases was driven by strong demand for auto sales. Durable goods orders for July were revised higher to 2.2% from 2%.
Dow futures briefly held less than 100 points higher after the ADP report missed expectations slightly, showing creation of 190,000 private jobs versus expectations of 200,000.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 2.19% from Tuesday’s 2.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 66 cents a barrel to $46.07 U.S.
Gold prices shed $7.10 to $1,132.70 U.S. an ounce.
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