Equity markets in Toronto set an 11-month high on Wednesday as oil prices turned higher and financial and energy shares advanced, offsetting losses for gold stocks as the precious metal fell.
The S&P/TSX Composite recovered 17.45 points to reach noon at 14,542.06
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.11 cents to 76.69 cents U.S.
Financials rose, powered up by a 0.7% gain for Royal Bank of Canada to $80.49.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc rose 0.6% to $45.90. The company plans to invest about $1 billion in Indian distressed assets through a joint venture with the largest lender in the South Asian nation.
Industrials advanced, led by railroad stocks. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd reported lower second-quarter earnings as volumes dropped, and it said its chief executive officer would step down next July while remaining as an adviser. Still, CP’s shares gained 0.9% to $187.74.
Enbridge Inc fell 0.1% to $54.53. The U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency will fine the company $62 million for a 2010 oil spill that released crude into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, a TV station in the state reported on Wednesday.
Barrick Gold Corp dropped 4.8%to $26.75 as gold fell to a three-week low, and Goldcorp declined 3.2% to $24.04.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 9.41 points to 759.21
All but two of the 13 subgroups were higher, with health-care up 2.1%, industrials more powerful by 1.5%, and consumer discretionary stocks better by 1.1%.
The two laggards were gold, off 3.9%, and materials, slumping 2.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks moved higher Wednesday as Wall Street celebrated better-than-expected earnings off of a record week of gains for the Dow.
The Dow Jones Industrials built on Tuesday’s all-time high by 46.77 points to 18,605.38, led higher by Microsoft, which beat on earnings and revenue as its cloud product Azure saw revenue growth of 102%.
The Dow is tracking for a nine-day winning streak after closing at another record high Tuesday.
The S&P 500 gained back 10.04 points to 2,173.82. Information technology and health-care led sectors in the green, while energy led four S&P sectors lower.
The NASDAQ Composite Index rumbled forward 53.31 points, or 1.1%, to 5,089.42. Facebook shares hit an all-time intraday high after the company announced one billion active users on its messenger app.
Bank results continued to surprise Wednesday, with Morgan Stanley reporting earnings of 75 cents U.S. per share versus consensus expectations of 59 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Morgan Stanley joined Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America on the list of U.S. financial institutions topping second-quarter profit forecasts.
In all, 64% of S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Tuesday morning topped earnings estimates, according to Thomson Reuters, compared to a long-term average of 63% over the past 22 years.
Abbott Labs, American Express, eBay, Intel, Qualcomm, Mattel and United Continental also report Wednesday.
In deal news, Monsanto said Bayer's $64-billion U.S. bid was inadequate, amid speculation the U.S. seed giant will hold out for a $130-per-share offer.
Celgene was up 3%, and Gilead more than 1.5%. Progenics rose more than 20% and Valeant is up more than 4% on positive drug licensing news.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, growing yields to 1.59% from Tuesday’s 1.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped 49 cents a barrel to $45.14 U.S.
Gold prices lost $13.90 to $1,318.40 U.S. an ounce.
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