Equities in Toronto saw gains slip from their fingers by Wednesday’s close, even as the Bank of Canada held interest rates steady and raised its second-quarter growth forecast as expected, while highlighting the risks that trade wars posed to the global economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index held onto gains of 11.24 points to end Wednesday’s session at 16,556.45
The Canadian dollar re-claimed 0.28 cents to 76.45 cents U.S.
Energy stocks ruled the roost, as Crescent Point Energy rocketed 37 cents, or 9%, to $4.48, while Whitecap Resources shot higher 29 cents, or 7.1%, to $4.38.
Gold were much better, too, as New Gold grew nine cents, or 7%, to $1.38, while Centerra Gold grabbed 36 cents, or 3.8%, to $9.79.
Among other resource stocks, Endeavour Mining picked up $1.08, or 4.9%, to $22.98, while Ero Copper climbed $1.31, or 5.9%, to $23.54.
Health-care ailed Wednesday, as the hapless CannTrust Holdings dived another 59 cents, or 12.5%, to $4.15, while Aphria Inc. lost 18 cents, or 2%, to $8.69
Industrials took a bit of a pounding as well, as Canadian Pacific Railway ducked back $5.28, or 1.7%, to $308.05, while Canadian National slumbered $1.38, or 1.1%, to $121.65.
Telecoms also got bruised, as TELUS lost 24 cents to $48.80, and BCE dipped 27 cents to $60.29
Economically speaking, the Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1.75%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2% and the deposit rate is 1.5%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 0.25 points to close Wednesday at 585.23
The 12 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, as energy gushed 2.1%, while gold solidified 1.4%, and materials were stronger by 0.8%
The half-dozen laggards were co-weighed by health-care and industrials, down 0.7% each, and communications, off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks reached record highs Wednesday after testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered the case for easier monetary policy in the U.S.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 76.71 points to 26,860.20,
The S&P 500 gained 13.44 points to 2,993.07, having earlier broken through the 3,000-point barrier.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 60.8 points to 8,202.53, as Amazon rose 1.5% to break above $2,000 per share.
In corporate news, Tesla shares rose more than 3% on news the company has told employees to prepare for an increase in production.
In prepared testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Powell said business investments across the U.S. have slowed “notably” recently as uncertainties over the economic outlook linger.
His testimony comes after the Fed opened the door to cutting rates at its previous monetary policy meeting in June. The central bank dropped the word "patience" in its statement then.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost ground, spurring yields to 2.07% from Tuesday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices roared ahead $2.48 to $60.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $19.30 to $1,412 U.S. an ounce.
