Canada's main stock index gained on Wednesday, as energy companies surged, and investors were treated to upbeat earnings reports.
The S&P/TSX Composite recovered 85.36 points to open Wednesday at 20,776.17
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.15 cents to 77.93 cents U.S.
Teck Resources reported a five-fold jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, aided by higher prices for copper and steelmaking coal.
Teck shares jumped $4.23, or 9.4%, to $49.31.
Cenovus Energy on Wednesday reported an over seven-fold jump in quarterly profit and nearly tripled its dividend, as supply concerns boosted crude prices to multi-year highs. Cenovus stock hiked 78 cents, or 3.7%, to $21.87.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Boardwalk REIT to $68.50 from $67.00 Boardwalk units grabbed 49 cents to $55.76.
CIBC cut the target price on Canadian National Railway to $167.00 from $169.00. CN shares backpedaled $4.64, or 3%, to $152.23.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Loblaw Companies to $120.00 from $119.00. Loblaw shares gained two cents to $116.08.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 4.48 points to 816.80.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with energy soaring 1.3%, materials up 1.1%, and consumer discretionaries progressing 0.6%.
Industrials kept things from being unanimous, ditching 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks struggled Wednesday, a day after the Nasdaq Composite posted a new low for the year, amid a tech-led selloff in April.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost another 121.76 points to 33,118.42.
The S&P 500 dropped 11.83 points to 4,163.37.
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 55.54 points to 12,435.20. The index is coming off its biggest daily loss since September 2020.
In April, the S&P 500 is down more than 7%. The NASDAQ has lost about 12%. The Dow has declined around 4%.
Google parent Alphabet led decliners on the NASDAQ Composite after the tech giant’s earnings results missed consensus estimates. Management warned on the conference call of another potentially weak quarter ahead. Alphabet shares fell about 5%.
Boeing also saw shares drop more than 12% after an earnings miss, the biggest laggard on the S&P 500 and the Dow.
On the upside, Microsoft rose after strong earnings results. Microsoft’s shares jumped more than 4% after a better-than-expected quarterly report and optimistic forward revenue guidance.
Facebook parent Meta is set to report earnings Wednesday after the bell, with Apple and Amazon reporting earnings Thursday. Investors will be watching to see if tech companies’ results prove the intense selling in April has been misplaced. All three Big Tech names were lower Wednesday.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite is in bear market territory, sitting now roughly 23% below its high. The S&P 500 is more than 10% off its record and closed Tuesday below a key support level of 4200.
Treasury prices sagged, lifting yields up to 2.75% from Tuesday’s 2.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked $1.52 at $100.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $15.10 to $1,889 U.S. an ounce.
