Stocks in Toronto opened higher on Wednesday, boosted by energy and material stocks, with investors digesting a rare 50-basis-point interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada early in the session.
The TSX Composite Index rebounded 109.85 points to open Wednesday at 21,825.26.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.14 cents to 79 cents U.S.
CIBC initiated coverage on Copperleaf Technologies with a neutral rating. Shares in Copperleaf shot lower $1.50, or 10.7%, to $12.50.
Credit Suisse cut the rating on Hydro One to underperform from neutral. Hydro One shares began the day down 10 cents to $35.27.
ATB Capital Markets raised the rating on Organigram Holdings to outperform from sector perform. Organigram shares gained six cents, or 2.9%, to $2.15.
Now, to the worst-kept secret in the country; The Bank of Canada increased its target for the overnight rate by half a percentage point to 1%, with the Bank Rate at 1¼% and the deposit rate at 1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 6.27 points to 887.39.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with materials strengthening 1.4%, while industrials and gold each acquired 1.3%.
Only financials faded, and 0.4% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as the corporate earnings season kicked off with mostly positive results, and traders looked past surging inflation numbers.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 63.03 points to 34,283.39.
The S&P 500 recovered 11.36 points to 4,408.81
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 119.38 points to 13,490.95.
BlackRock, Fastenal and Delta Air Lines all traded higher on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results. Delta also got a boost after the airline said it expects to return to profitability this quarter.
Other travel stocks surged as a group on Wednesday. American Airlines soared more than 8%, Southwest Airlines jumped past 6%, Expedia rallied 3.6% and Carnival Corporation jumped nearly 5%.
To be sure, shares of JPMorgan Chase fell 2% after the banking giant reported a $524-million hit caused by market dislocations due to sanctions against Russia. The bank also posted a 42% decline in first-quarter profits. JPMorgan did manage, however, to report $31.59 billion in revenue for the period,
On Wednesday, a report showed producer prices — wholesale costs that could eventually lead to higher retail prices — jumped a record 11.2% in March on an annual basis. The monthly gain of 1.4% topped the 1.1% estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones.
Treasury prices gained ground, putting yields back down to 2.66%, from Tuesday’s 2.73%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved forward $1.37 to $101.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $5.50 to $1,981.60 U.S. an ounce.
Stocks Rise at Start of Earnings Season
