Equities in Toronto opened higher on Wednesday, driven by gains in shares of consumer discretionary and energy companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 41.66 points to start Wednesday at 15,275.42
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.05 cents to 74.91 cents U.S.
Restaurant Brands International on Wednesday named Burger King official Jose Cil as its chief executive officer. Restaurant Brands climbed $5.14, or 6.8%, to $81.31.
First Quantum Minerals says it has ended plans to layoff 2,500 workers in Zambia due to higher tax plans and will continue to dialogue with the government over the issue. First Quantum shares gained 47 cents, or 3.7%, to $13.08.
U.S. cannabis retailer Green Growth Brands Inc said on Tuesday it would make a second all-stock takeover bid for Aphria, valuing the Canadian pot producer at about $2.35 billion. Aphria shares dipped 15 cents, or 1.6%, however, to $9.28.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on SNC-Lavalin Group to $58.00 from $61.00. SNC shares demurred eight cents to $47.67.
Raymond James cut the target price on Russel Metals to $31.00 from $36.00. Russel shares docked 17 cents to $22.78.
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Saputo to $43.00 from $44.00. Saputo shares slid 25 cents to $38.42.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said retail sales decreased 0.9% to $50.4 billion in November on lower sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers. Excluding these two sub-sectors, retail sales increased 0.2%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 0.81 points to 593.89
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, led by consumer discretionary stocks, vaulting 1.9%, while information technology clicked 0.8% higher, and consumer staples, up 0.6%.
The two laggards were gold, down 0.9%, and materials, skidding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded higher on Wednesday after the release of strong corporate earnings from companies like IBM, United Technologies and Procter & Gamble.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 264.15 points, or 1.1%, to 24,668.63, as IBM, United Tech and Procter & Gamble outperformed.
The S&P 500 regained 16.32 points to 2,649.22, led by the consumer staples and industrials sectors
The NASDAQ Composite gained 49.37 points to 7,069.73
Dow members United Technologies hiked 4.7%, and Procter & Gamble rose 5.4%, after both companies reported better-than-expected earnings. IBM, another Dow component, also jumped 6.5% on the back of its results.
More than 14% of S&P 500 companies have released their calendar fourth-quarter results so far. Of those companies, 72.6% have topped analyst estimates. However, only 57.5% of those companies have beaten sales forecasts.
Overall, profits for the companies that have reported have grown by 13.2%, slightly above expectations. However, that would be the slowest pace of earnings growth since the fourth quarter of 2017, when S&P 500 profits expanded by 15.5%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury settled back a bit, boosting yields to 2.76% from Tuesday’s 2.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave up 25 cents to $52.76 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $4.30 to $1,279.10 U.S. an ounce.
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