Equities in Canada’s biggest centre jumped at the open on Wednesday, in a broad move led by financial and energy stocks as investors focused on growing chances of a U.S. interest rate hike this month and digested a Bank of Canada rate decision (or lack of it)
The S&P/TSX Composite leaped 155.74 points, or 1%, to open Wednesday and the month of March at 15,554.98, after suffering a string of five straight losing sessions.
The Canadian dollar docked 0.07 cents at 75.05 cents U.S.
National Bank of Canada said its first-quarter profit surged 90.4% from a year ago, when it took a writeoff charge of $236 million.
National shares triumphed 22 cents, or 2.2%, to $57.90
TransCanada Corp has suspended a $15-billion NAFTA suit filed against the United States over the Keystone XL pipeline, after U.S. President Donald Trump approved the project last month.
TransCanada shares shed three cents to $61.03.
Torstar Corp, the owner of the Toronto Star, reported a fourth-quarter profit, compared with a loss a year earlier, when the company recorded a one-time charge of $213.3 million.
Torstar shares gained seven cents, or 4.1%, to $1.76.
Desjardins upped the target price on Bank of Montreal to $104.00 from $99.00, with a hold rating. BMO shares hiked $1.53, or 1.5%, to $102.32.
Barclays raised the target price on Bank of Nova Scotia to $78.00 from $73.00. Scotiabank shares took on 92 cents, or 1.2%, to $77.96.
National Bank raised the target price on CAP REIT to $35.00 from $34.00. CAP REIT units forged ahead 12 cents to $32.28.
As expected, the Bank of Canada maintained an overnight rate target at 0.5%. The central bank also announced that the bank rate is correspondingly 0.75% and the deposit rate is 0.25%
Elsewhere on the economic calendar, the seasonally-adjusted Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 54.7 last month, up from 53.5 in January, signaling the strongest improvement in business conditions since November 2014.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange continued negative, however, by 1.76 points, to 815.46
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups started the day positive, with industrials and health-care each growing by 1.5%, and financials better by 1.4%.
The three laggards were gold, down 0.7%, telecoms, sliding 0.2%, and utilities, shrinking 0.03%. Real-Estate stocks were unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities kicked off Wednesday trading sharply higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average climbing above 21,000 for the first time, on the back of President Donald Trump's speech to Congress.
The Dow Jones Industrials flew 236.87 points, or 1.1%, to 21,049.11, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. The 30-stock index first closed above 20,000 on Jan. 25.
The S&P 500 charged up 24.53 points, or 1%, to 2,388.17, with financials rising 2.3% to lead advancers.
The NASDAQ added 59.25 points, or 1%, to 5,884.69
Trump's speech, which was delivered Tuesday night, was widely praised for its positive tone but lacked specifics about tax reform and deregulation, two key components of the market's post-election rally.
Investors also paid close attention to key economic data, as the probability of the Federal Reserve raising rates surged.
Personal income rose 0.4% in January, topping expectations, while consumer spending slowed. However, the personal consumption expenditures price index jumped 1.9% in the 12 months through January, putting inflation very close to the Federal Reserve's target of 2%.
Construction spending and the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing data is out later this morning, then the Fed's beige book will be released at 2 p.m.
Market expectations for a rate hike this month almost doubled to around 70%, according to experts.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped sharply raising yields to 2.46% from Tuesday’s 2.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up 23 cents to $54.24 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $13.00 to $1,240.90 U.S. an ounce.
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