Stocks in Toronto came back big Wednesday, once again posting triple-digit gains
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 132.78 points to conclude the session Wednesday at 15,027.28
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.27 cents to 75.97 cents U.S.
Health-care concerns again took centre stage, as Bausch Health Companies sprinted ahead 87 cents, or 3%, to $30.04, while Canopy
Growth tallied $4.15, or 9.3%, to $48.57
Tech companies also soared, as Shopify acquired $12.06, or 7.1%, to $181.69, while BlackBerry strengthened 32 cents, or 2.7%, to $12.17.
Among consumer discretionary companies, Canadian Tire gained $1.08 to $148.27, while Gildan Activewear collected 26 cents to $39.29.
In the gold patch, Barrick Gold faded 24 cents, or 1.4%, to $16.51, while Kinross shed nine cents, or 2.7%, to $3.41.
In the communications sector, BCE Inc. dipped 49 cents, or 1%, to $51.06, while Rogers Communications headed south 15 cents to $67.80.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the economy rose for the seventh straight month, with gross domestic product up 0.1% in August.
Growth was concentrated in oil and gas extraction and finance and insurance, which more than offset declines in 12 of 20 industrial sectors.
The agency’s industrial product price index edged up 0.1% in September. Higher prices for chemicals and chemical products and energy and petroleum products were largely offset by lower prices for primary non-ferrous metal products.
StatsCan’s raw materials price index decreased 0.9% in the same month, mainly due to lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 13.9 points, or 2.2%, to 641.36
All but two of the 12 subgroups were positive, with health-care hurtling skyward 7.2%, while information technology skyrocketed 3.6%, and consumer discretionary gained 1.3%.
The two laggards were gold, off 1.3%, and communications, sinking 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose sharply on Wednesday for a second straight day as strong earnings from General Motors and Facebook lifted sentiment. But the major averages were still on pace for big October losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 241.12 points, or 1%, to 25,115.76, led by Visa, bringing its two-day gain to about 650 points.
The S&P 500 spiked 29.11 points, or 1.1%, to 2,711.74, as consumer discretionary and energy outperformed.
The NASDAQ hiked 144.25 points, or 2%, to 7,305.90, and briefly climbed out of correction territory.
The S&P 500 was down 6.9% during the month of October, for its biggest one-month loss since September 2011, when it fell 7.2%.
The Dow lost 5.1% in October to post its largest monthly decline since January 2016, when it dropped 5.5%.
The NASDAQ lunged 9.2% this month, and is tracking for its worst month since November 2008, when it plunged 10.8%.
General Motors shares spiked 9.1% after the company reported quarterly results that easily topped expectations. The company said it sold fewer cars in the third quarter, but at a higher price, boosting its bottom line.
Facebook shares rose 3.8% after the company reported on Tuesday better-than-expected earnings. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company's earnings call Facebook plans to invest significantly in its business next year. He also said Facebook plans to build products such as Facebook Watch and Instagram TV.
The stock's rise on Wednesday led Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet higher.
On the data front, private payrolls rose by 227,000 in October, according to a report from ADP and Moody's Analytics. The gain is more than economists expected.
This report comes ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report, which is scheduled for release Friday morning.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, pushing yields up to 3.15% from Tuesday’s 3.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.10 to $65.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices descended $7.70 an ounce to $1,217.60
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