Canadian stocks came off their lows of the day, but still finished in the red, even as precious metals gained on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve won’t take immediate steps to restrain inflation.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index settled 16.53 points to end Wednesday at 13,892.57
The Canadian dollar grew 0.14 cents to 105.2 cents U.S.
Silver Wheaton Inc., Canada’s fourth-largest precious- metals company, rallied 6.9% to $39.91, after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee said commodity prices "have pushed up inflation in recent months."
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer, declined 2.5% to $54.18, as wheat fell after Statistics Canada forecast more planting. Canadian National Railways Co. advanced 0.6% to $71.45, after beating analysts’ profit estimates.
Teck Resources Ltd. was down by 1.5% to $52.40, Suncor Energy shares gave up 1% to $42.52, and Capstone Mining Corp. shares were off by 3.5% to $3.61.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forged ahead 18.84 points to 2,251.34 while the Nasdaq Canada index moved up 8.73 points to 756.56
In Toronto, all but four of the 14 subgroups ended the day in negative territory. Consumer staples stepped back 1.2%, while metals and mining docked 0.8%, and financials forfeited 0.6%.
The gainers were led by gold, up 1.7%, materials, ahead 0.6% and telecoms, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose Wednesday afternoon after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke reassured investors that the nation's economic recovery is on track.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 95.59 points to 12,691
The S&P 500 gathered 8.42 points to 1,355.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index strengthened 22.34 points to 2,869.88.
A couple of hours before the press conference, the central bank said it would keep interest rates low and end its $600-billion U.S. Treasury buying program in June.
Bernanke said the Fed will only reverse course to tighten rates when the economy is ready.
The modest gains put all three indexes at fresh multi-year highs. The Dow climbed to the highest levels since May 2008, while the S&P 500 rose to the highest levels since June 2008. The Nasdaq pushed to the highest levels since January 2001.
Bernanke said the Fed would end its bond-buying program "without tapering," and that there were no plans to do more. "The tradeoffs are getting less attractive," he said. Bernanke also noted that the central bank's balance sheet would remain constant after QE2 ends.
GE's stock jumped more than 3%, leading the Dow's gainers. At an annual shareholder's meeting, the conglomerate's CFO said the company's profit growth over the next few years will be the fastest it has seen in a decade.
Shares of Merck rose 1.4% after the Dow component got the green light from its board for a $5-billion U.S. share buyback program.
Shares of Boeing rose more than 1% after the aeronautics company reported a 13% increase in its first-quarter profit.
For-profit educator DeVry's stock was the best performer on the S&P 500 after popping more than 7%. Late Tuesday, DeVry reported a 14% rise in its quarterly profit.
Amazon.com stock was the biggest winner on the Nasdaq, with shares rising 7%, even though the online merchant reported first-quarter earnings that fell by one-third compared to a year earlier and sharply missed Wall Street forecasts.
Meanwhile, shares of Broadcom sank almost 12% after the semiconductor company issued a disappointing outlook. Broadcom was the worst performing company in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
After the close, Starbucks reported results. The coffee retailer was expected to earn 34 cents U.S. a share.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury faded, raising yields to 3.37% from Tuesday’s 3.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for June delivery gained 78 cents to $112.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $5.00 to $1,508.50 U.S. an ounce.
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