Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre gained in early trade on Wednesday, boosted by rising energy stocks as oil hit its highest since June and a bounce back in gold miners after Tuesday's sharp selloff.
The S&P/TSX Composite regained 104.49 points to begin Wednesday at 14,625.50
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.08 cents to 75.73 cents U.S.
RBC starts coverage on Ag Growth International with an outperform rating, and a $50 price target. Ag Growth shares climbed 59 cents, or 1.4%, to $44.41.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on BSM Technologies to $2.00 from $1.75 and a buy rating. BSM shares gave back three cents, or 2.4%, to $1.22.
CIBC starts coverage on ECN Capital with an outperform rating, and a $4.50 price target. ECN shares took on a penny to $3.39.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that our exports increased 0.6% to $43.4 billion in August, while imports were largely unchanged at $45.3 billion.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $2.2 billion in July to $1.9 billion in August.
ON BAY STREET
The TSX Venture Exchange restored 6.2 points to 773.01
All 12 TSX subgroups gained in the first hour, with energy bolting 1.8%, while materials and consumer discretionaries each climbed 0.8%.
ON WALL STREET
U.S. equities rose on Wednesday, as investors pored over through a slew of economic data while watching surging oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials rebounded 102.41 points to 18,270.86, with Goldman Sachs and McDonald's contributing the most gains
The S&P 500 was positive 9.1 points to 2,159.59, with financials advancing nearly 1% to lead advancers
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 31.4 points to 5,321.05
The American Petroleum Institute said Tuesday afternoon that U.S. oil inventories had decreased by 7.6 million barrels. Official inventories data from the Energy Information Administration is due later this morning, and if the data shows a drawdown, it would be the fifth straight week of declines.
On the data front, companies in September created jobs at the slowest pace in six months as the labour market south of the border showed further signs of tightening, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody's Analytics. ADP's report is seen as a preview of the U.S. government's monthly non-farm payrolls report, due Friday morning.
Other data released Wednesday included the U.S. trade deficit, which widened to $40.7 billion in August, while weekly mortgage applications rose 2.9% last week. Factory orders and Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing both came in better than expected.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 1.72% from Tuesday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 84 cents to $49.53 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped 10 cents to $1,269.60 U.S. an ounce.
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