Indices in Canada’s largest centre continued to steamroll on Wednesday, as Canadian National Railway led gains in industrial stocks helping offset the impact from data showing the country's annual inflation rate surged to a new 18-year high.
The TSX Composite advanced 87.28 points to 21,174.27, yet another all-time high for the index.
The Canadian dollar improved 0.26 cents to 81.19 cents U.S.
CN led gains on news that its CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest will retire at the end of January, following investor demands for his exit after the company's failed bid for Kansas City Southern. CN climbed $7.85, or 5.1%, to $161.37.
SNC-Lavalin gained 94 cents, or 4.8%, to $34.50.
In real-estate, CAPREIT captured $1.53, or 2.5%, to $61.89, while Interrent REIT jumped 34 cents, or 1.9%, to $17.97.
Financials were hot, too, as GoEasy zoomed $5.76, or 3.1%, to $191.77, while ONEX Corp. leaped $2.79, or 3%, to $97.47.
Health-care held things back, too, as Canopy Growth dropped 33 cents, or 1.9%, to $17.41, while rival Tilray slumped 24 cents, or 1.7%, to $14.20.
Consumer staples fell, as Empire Company chucked 63 cents, or 1.7%, to $37.06, while Alimentation Couche-Tard stumbled 58 cents, or 1.2%, to $47.68.
Tech issues faltered, as Alithya Group slid eight cents, or 2.2%, to $3.56, while BlackBerry declined 23 cents, or 1.6%, to $14.00.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported the consumer price index rose 4.4% on a year-over-year basis in September, up from a 4.1% gain in August. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.4% in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked up 0.83 points to 951.21.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups enjoyed gains on the day Wednesday, with industrials up 1.5%, and real-estate gaining 0.8%, while financials earned 0.6%..
The four laggards were burdened by health-care, sinking 0.5%, consumer staples, fading 0.3%, information technology, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped to a record on Wednesday as investor sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected earnings reports and a new record for bitcoin.
The 30-stock index headed higher 152.03 points to 35,609.34.
The S&P 500 heightened 16.56 points to 4,536.19,
The NASDAQ Composite went against the tide, though, and lost 7.41 points to 15,121.68.
Netflix posted its hotly-anticipated third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday after the market closed, with the streaming giant adding 4.4 million subscribers during the period. Wall Street analysts expected 3.84 million additions. However, the shares, which are up 20% in the last three months, were down more than 2%.
Deutsche Bank downgraded Netflix after the report, saying its stock valuation was hard to justify with revenue growth set to slow next year. The firm also said strong fourth quarter subscriber additions are already baked into the stock.
United Airlines also posted quarterly results after the bell on Tuesday, with the company beating analyst expectations on the top and bottom line amid an ongoing rebound in travel demand. United shares retreated slightly Wednesday.
Ford shares were up 4% after Credit Suisse upgraded the auto company on its EV shift and predicted a 30% rally in the stock.
PayPal lost almost 5% on a report that it could buy the social media company Pinterest. Pinterest shares soared more than 12%.
More than 70 S&P 500 components report earnings this week. IBM, Tesla, CSX and Las Vegas Sands are among the names set to report after the market closes.
Bitcoin rose as high as $66,893 Wednesday, a new all-time high for the cryptocurrency, following comments by one expert calling bitcoin his preferred inflation hedge over gold.
Bitcoin has been climbing for four weeks amid positive regulatory developments and the anticipation of the first bitcoin-linked ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which began trading Tuesday.
The bitcoin rally is a signal of a strong risk-on environment, according to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, who also said the market could still rally more than 6% by the end of the year despite the "jagged year of progress" it’s had. He upped his S&P 500 price target 100 points to 4,800, citing declining COVID cases and economic resilience.
Prices for 10-yearTreasurys fell, raising yields to 1.65% from Tuesday’s 1.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.29 to $84.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $15.50 to $1,786.00 U.S. an ounce.
