Stocks in Canada’s largest centre rallied on Wednesday as a smaller-than-expected increase in interest rate by the Bank of Canada raised hopes that the central bank could be reining in on one of its faster monetary tightening cycles ever.
The TSX Composite barreled ahead 305.9 points, or 1.6%, to pause for lunch Wednesday at 19,402.91.
The Canadian dollar captured 0.38 cents to 73.81 cents U.S.
Rogers Communications jumped $3.75, or 7%, to $57.38, while Shaw Communications gained $3.33, or 9.8%, to $37.39, after Canada imposed conditions on Rogers' proposed remedy to overcome Competition Bureau concerns about its $20-billion deal.
Health-care concerns were next up the ladder, with Canopy Growth spreading its wings 50 cents, or 12.6%, to $4.46, while Bausch Health Companies added 53 cents, or 5.5%, to $9.96.
Gold roared ahead, with Kinross Gold jumped 19 cents, or 3.9%, to $5.09, while NovaGold Resources climbed 25 cents, or 3.9%, to $6.65.
The Bank of Canada confounded some of the experts by raising its trendsetting rate by less than had been projected.
The central bank increased its target for the overnight rate to 3.75%, with the Bank Rate at 4% and the deposit rate at 3.75%.
Some had suggested the jump would be as much as three-quarters of a percentage point.
The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.92 points, or 1%, to 601.86.
All 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, as communication and health-care stocks improved 4.3% each, and gold shone brighter 2.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose for a fourth day Wednesday, as traders shook off disappointing earnings from tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet.
The 30-stock index gained 296.49 points to 32,133.23, as Visa shares gave the index a boost on strong quarterly numbers.
The S&P 500 recovered 21.18 points to 3,880.29.
The NASDAQ dropped 22.43 points to 11,176.88.
Shares of Google-parent Alphabet dropped 6.4% after the tech giant missed expectations on the top and bottom lines. Alphabet also reported a decline in YouTube ad revenue, which spurred investors to deliberate the outlook for other tech companies that rely on ad spending.
Meanwhile, Microsoft declined about 6% after the tech giant reported weaker-than-expected cloud revenue in its latest quarterly results, despite beating earnings and revenue estimates. The company also issued current-quarter revenue guidance that fell short of expectations.
In other earnings news, Harley-Davidson shares rose 6.7% after the motorcycle maker reported beating expectations before the bell. Meta was among the companies also set to report.
Traders are also watching for the latest economic data on new home sales.
Treasury prices gained, lowering yields to 4.02% from Tuesday’s 4.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices heightened $2.68 to $88.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices acquired $16.90 to $1,674.90 U.S. an ounce.
