Stocks in Canada’s largest financial market gathered steam and rose to a near four-week high, led by financial and energy stocks as surprisingly upbeat trade data from China supported sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 31.74 points out of Wednesday’s starting blocks to 13,613.16
The Canadian dollar eased back 0.27 cents to 78.07 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 0.7% to $76.28, and Bank of Nova Scotia, which advanced 1.1% to $63.21.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground, as Barrick Gold fell 2.1% to $20.44 as spot gold fell.
The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 0.5%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 0.75% and the deposit rate is 0.25%
China's exports in March returned to growth for the first time in nine months, adding to further signs of stabilization in the world's second-largest economy that cheered global investors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell after a pronounced win streak, losing 2.1 points to 624.82
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour of trade, as metals and mining solidified 3.4%, industrials were 1% stronger, and real-estate was more built up 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 2.2%, health-care, sliding 0.8%, and materials, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher Wednesday, following a global rally on encouraging China trade data, and helped by JPMorgan's earnings beat.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 123.79 points to 17,845.04, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase providing most of the muscle.
The S&P 500 was higher 13 points to 2,074.72. Financials rose more than 1.5% to lead S&P 500 advancers
The NASDAQ index climbed 51.53 points, or 1.1%, to 4,923.62, with Apple and Amazon.com leading major tech stocks higher.
February business inventories declined 0.1%. Inventories in January were revised down to show a 0.1% drop instead of the previously reported 0.1% gain.
Headline retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.3% in March after being flat in February. Ex-autos, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales edged up 0.1% after an upwardly revised 0.1% the prior month.
The producer price index declined 0.1% in March, following a 0.2% decline in February. Ex-food, energy and trade services, PPI was unchanged from the prior month and up 0.9% in the 12 months through March.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were slightly lower, raising yields to 1.79% from Tuesday’s 1.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tailed off 65 cents a barrel to $41.52 U.S.
Gold prices settled $9.57 to $1,246.06 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
