Equities in Canada’s biggest market rose to a one-week high on Wednesday, led by energy and financial stocks as oil turned higher after the release of weekly inventory data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 20.63 points to stop for lunch hour at 13,795.82
The Canadian dollar gained 0.38 cents to 77.84 cents U.S.
Financials rose, including a near-2% advance in the shares of Sun Life Financial to $43.65.
The company reported a 13% increase in underlying net income in the first quarter, exceeding estimates as it benefited from strong growth in the United States and Canada.
Encana Corp rose 8.1% to $8.55, while Cenovus Energy rose 1.4% to $18.99.
Market participants are closely watching for the prospect of further restarts by Canadian oil sands producers near wildfire-ravaged Fort
McMurray as some companies began slowly bringing operations back online.
InnVest Real Estate Investment said that it has entered into an agreement to be bought by Bluesky Hotels and Resorts. Its shares jumped nearly 29% to $7.06.
The shares of Kinross Gold Corp fell 4.8% to $6.81. The company reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue as the world's fifth-biggest gold miner struggled with lower realized gold prices.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained up 6.41 points to 667.51.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, with consumer discretionary stocks down 1.1%, gold off 0.8%, and consumer staples fading 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by metals and mining, up 6.2%, energy, up 1.7%, and utilities, progressing 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks south of the border traded lower Wednesday, under pressure from disappointing retail sector earnings, amid sharp gains in oil following a surprise decline in crude stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 128.55 points, after yesterday’s hefty gain, to 17,799.80, with Walt Disney contributing the most to declines. Declines in Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Nike also weighed on the index.
The S&P 500 dropped 8.49 points to 2,075.90. Consumer discretionary issues held more than 1.5% lower to lead S&P 500 decliners, while energy and materials were the only gainers in late-morning trade.
The NASDAQ Composite Index fell 18.83 points to 4,791.05.
Shares of Disney fell more than 5.5%. Macy's traded more than 13% lower and Fossil briefly fell more than 30% after reporting earnings.
Dow component Disney reported its first earnings miss in five years, while revenue was also below forecasts. Factors affecting results included decline in ESPN ad revenue due to the timing of college football playoff games and higher pre-opening expenses at Shanghai Disney Resort.
Studio revenue for the quarter increased 22% to $2.1 billion, powered by the box-office success of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and animated movie "Zootopia," Reuters said.
Macy's lowered its full-year forecast, with CEO Terry J. Lundgren noting "continued weakness" in consumer spending in the press release. Quarterly earnings topped expectations, while revenue came in below estimates.
In other corporate news, Staples and Office Depot ended their planned merger deal after a judge sided with the Federal Trade Commission in its effort to block the deal on competitive grounds. The companies do not plan to appeal the decision.
Shares of Office Depot fell more than 39% in late-morning trade, tracking for its worst day since its IPO in 1988. Staples briefly traded more than 18% lower.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 1.74% from Tuesday’s 1.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained back $1.38 a barrel to $46.04 U.S.
Gold prices hiked $8.99 to $1,274.83 U.S. an ounce.
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