Equities in Toronto rose Wednesday morning, led by energy and financial issues as oil rallied and investors grew more optimistic that Britons would vote to stay in the European Union.
The S&P/TSX Composite popped 40.26 points to open trading on Wednesday at 14,052.58
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.16 cents to 78.17 cents U.S.
Encana said on Tuesday it reached an agreement to sell its Gordondale oil and gas assets in northwestern Alberta to Birchcliff Energy Ltd for $625 million
Encana shares eased back six cents to $10.71.
Raymond James raised its rating on Canadian Pacific Railway to strong buy from outperform.
CP shares leaped $3.20, or 2%, to $162.50.
Desjardins raised the rating on Goldcorp to buy from hold. Goldcorp shares gathered 21 cents to $22.63.
Desjardins raised the target price on Mag Silver to $17.00 from $14.00. Mag shares shed a dollar, or 6.1%, to $15.30.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales in Canada rose 0.9% to $44.3 billion in April, after a decline of 0.8% in March. Sales were up in seven of 11 subsectors, representing 64% of total retail sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 0.38 points to 708.61
All but two of the 13 subgroups were higher to begin with, metals and mining advancing 1.1%, financials, up 0.6%, and industrials, ahead 0.5%.
The two laggards were energy and utilities, each down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher Wednesday, trying for a third-straight day of gains, as the U.K. vote on whether to leave the European Union approached.
The Dow Jones Industrials took on 56.43 points to open at 17,886.16, with Boeing leading advancers and McDonald's the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 gained 4.55 points at 2,093.45, with materials and financials leading eight sectors higher and energy and utilities the only decliners.
The NASDAQ was positive 2.72 points to 4,846.48, even as declines in shares of Amazon and Tesla weighed.
In economic news Wednesday, existing home sales rose 1.8% in May.
The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.2% on a seasonally-adjusted basis in April from the previous month, while March's figure was upwardly revised to a 0.8% increase.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to continue her two-day congressional testimony with remarks to the House Financial Services Committee.
The EU referendum is scheduled for Thursday and the results are not expected until after the U.S. market close that day.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury moved lower, lifting yields slightly to 1.71% from Tuesday’s 1.7%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved forward 29 cents a barrel to $50.14 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $4.50 to $1,268.00 U.S. an ounce.
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