Equities in Canada’s largest market improved further still Wednesday, carving out yet another all-time high, mostly with a huge push from Energy and consumer stocks.
The TSX gained 90.81 points to conclude Wednesday at 18,690
The Canadian dollar reversed gears and gained 0.18 cents to 79.26 cents U.S.
Energy showed the most gumption on the market Wednesday, led by Vermilion’s gain of $1.35, or 14.7%, to close at $10.54, while Enerplus shares gained 45 cents, or 6.9%, to $6.94.
Among consumer staples, Empire Company climbed $2.08, or 5.7%, to $38.91, and Primo Water took on 76 cents, or 3.8%, to $20.70.
Financials also some strength, as Sprott Inc. gained $2.01, or 3.8%, to $55.09, while IGM jumped 57 cents, or 1.5%, to $37.89.
Health-care stocks moved in the other direction, though, as Aurora Cannabis stumbled 62 cents, or 4.8%, to $12.41, while Bausch Health swooned $1.46, or 3.4%, to $41.42.
In tech stocks, Shopify dawdled $53.76, or 3.8%, to $1,337.30, while Lightspeed POS handed back $1.94, or 2.7%, to $73.08.
Real-estate issues also folded, with units of Artis REIT doffing 58 cents, or 5.1%, to $10.89, while First Service lost $3.64, or 1.9%, to $190.78.
The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of 0.25%, with the Bank Rate at 0.5% and the deposit rate at 0.25%.
The central bank is maintaining its extraordinary forward guidance, reinforced and supplemented by its quantitative easing program, which continues at its current pace of at least $4 billion per week.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.05 points, to 968.23.
Nine of the 12 TSX subgroups stayed positive into the final minutes of the session, with energy bubbling 4%, consumer staples ahead 1.5%, and financials up 1%.
The three laggards proved to be health-care, sliding 2.3%, information technology, swooning 1.5%, and real-estate toppling 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 400 points to a record after falling bond yields and a new stimulus package spurred investors to snap up stocks that will benefit from a faster recovery from the pandemic.
The 30-stock index leaped 464.28 points, or 1.5%, at 32,297.02
The S&P advanced 23.37 points to end the day at 3,898.81, led by energy and financials. The S&P 500 energy sector jumped 2.6%, bringing its 2021 gains to more than 39%. Industrials, materials, and financials all advanced more than 1%.
UBS hiked its year-end S&P 500 target to 4,250 from 4,100 on Tuesday, representing a near 9% gain from here. UBS turned more bullish on stocks for the year with incoming stimulus and pent-up consumer spending.
The NASDAQ Composite leaned lower 4.99 points to 13,068.83
Tesla dipped 0.8%, after spending much of the day in positive country. Cathie Wood’s flagship active exchange-traded fund Ark Innovation ETF slid 0.3% after soaring 10% for its best day ever on Tuesday.
Data out Wednesday morning showed February consumer prices increased 0.4%, matching expectations from economists polled by Dow Jones. The Consumer Price Index gained 1.7% on a year-over-year basis, also in line with estimates.
House Democrats passed a $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief bill Wednesday, sending it to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign Friday.
Biden said checks of up to $1,400 should start going out this month.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained slightly, lowering yields to 1.52% from Tuesday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 78 cents to $64.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $6.80 to $1,723.70.
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