Equities in Canada’s largest market tracked Wall Street higher on Wednesday as the U.S. presidential election hung in the balance, with a handful of close-fought states set to decide the outcome in the coming hours or days.
The TSX moved climbed 159.75 points, or 1%, to greet noon hour Wednesday at 16,098.90.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.08 cents at 76.23 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Finning International, which jumped $2.73, or 13.6%, to $22.79, after the heavy machinery maker reported third-quarter profits above analysts' estimates.
Cancer drug developer Trillium Therapeutics rose $1.28, or 7.5%, to $18.31.
Pot producer Canopy Growth ditched $1.72, or 6.4%, to 25.19, while rival Cronos Group fell 57 cents, or 7.2%, to $7.40, the biggest decliners in TSX.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada revealed Wednesday that our country’s merchandise exports and imports each increased in September by 1.5%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened slightly from $3.2 billion in August to $3.3 billion in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.06 points to 697.59.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, as information technology clicked 4% higher, communications improved 1.8%, and consumer staples hiked 1.6%.
The three laggards were materials, down 1.5%, while gold and health-care issues each descended 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday, led by tech shares, even as the results of the presidential contest so far failed to yield a clear winner.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 753.99 points, or 2.7%, carrying on from Tuesday’s mammoth rise, to 28,234.02.
The S&P 500 jumped 112.5 points, or 3.3%, to 3,481.66.
The NASDAQ popped 486.05 points, or 4.4%, to 11,646.63, as investors crowded back into the trade that’s been working for most of this tumultuous year.
President Donald Trump is projected to win the presidential vote in Florida, Indiana and Kentucky along with South Dakota, Arkansas and Ohio, media reports said. Trump is also projected to win Alabama and North Dakota. Biden is projected to win Vermont, Delaware, Maryland and Massachusetts as well as Colorado, New York and Virginia.
Shares of major tech-related companies jumped with Amazon, Apple and Microsoft all up at least 3%. Facebook popped 7%, while Google-parent Alphabet jumped more than 6%.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 0.78% from Tuesday’s 0.90%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.24 at $38.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumbered $13.10 to $1,897.30.
Related Stories
