Equities in Canada rose on Wednesday, with energy stocks climbing over 3% as crude prices gained on supply concerns after a ship ran aground.
The TSX progressed 79.04 points to start Wednesday’s session at 18,748.84.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.13 cents at 79.55 cents U.S.
Eight tug boats were attempting on Wednesday to free a 400-metre-long container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking vessels passing through one of the world's most important waterways.
TD Securities started coverage on Altius Renewable Royalties with a speculative buy rating and a $15.50. Altius shares picked up four cents to $10.90.
Morgan Stanley cut the rating on Lundin Mining to equal-weight from overweight. Lundin shares dipped 14 cents, 1%, to $13.38.
Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on WeedMD with a speculative buy rating and a $0.60 price target. WeedMD shares nicked up half a cent, or 1.4%, to 36.5 cents.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Crescent Point Energy, which jumped 23 cents, or 4.7%, to $5.15, after brokerage TD Securities hiked the price target of the oil producer's stock, and Air Canada, which enjoyed $1.25, or 4.9%, worth of takeoff, to $27.04.
Food processing firm Sunopta fell $1.19, or 6.3%, to $17.57, the most on the TSX, and the second-biggest decliner was pharmaceuticals company Bausch Health Companies, down 61 cents, or 1.5%, to $39.25.
The Bank of Canada is seeing evidence of investor activity and "a lot more flipping" in some Canadian housing markets and is concerned that "fear of missing out" may also be driving price gains
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched higher 0.33 points to 967.15
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour of trade, as information technology and consumer staples each moved lower by 0.9%, while health-care slipped 0.7%.
The five gainers were led by energy, up 4.2%, while industrials and financials each prospered 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rebounded on Wednesday as investors once again made bets on a strong economic recovery from the pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 299.25 points to begin Wednesday at 32,722.40
The S&P 500 regained 15.95 points 3,926.47
The NASDAQ Composite fell, however, 46.68 points to 13,181.12.
Cruise lines and airlines recovered some of the losses in the previous session. Shares of American Airlines and United Airlines were higher by more than 3%. Carnival popped 5%, while Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean gained 3% each. Energy stocks also rebounded as oil prices bounced.
Shares of Intel rose 1% after the chip giant unveiled plans for a comeback, saying it was opening two new factories to manufacture its own chips and ones for other companies.
The market suffered a broad selloff on Tuesday amid concern about rising new coronavirus infections in the U.S. and abroad.
Many regions of the world are indeed seeing rising COVID-19 cases as highly contagious variants continue to spread, the World Health Organization said. Germany and France are extending or enforcing new lockdown measures.
But the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. is picking up with nearly one in five adults now fully vaccinated.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will continue their testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. In the first joint appearance Tuesday, the pair acknowledged the richly valued asset prices in the markets, but said that they are not concerned about financial stability.
Powell said that the economic recovery from the pandemic had "progressed more quickly than generally expected and looks to be strengthening."
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys faded, raising yields to 1.65% from Tuesday’s 1.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.96 to $59.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices increased $4.80 to $1,729.90.
