Equities in Canada’s largest centre made do with slight gains at the open on Wednesday, as a drop in crude prices dragged energy shares down, while investors remained cautious before the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting outcome.
The TSX enjoyed gains of 37.54 points to open Wednesday at 20,445.10.
The Canadian dollar shrank 0.03cents to 73.38 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit, as higher prices of the metal outweighed a decline in production. Barrick shares picked up 12 cents to $27.09.
Loblaw Companies reported a 6% rise in first-quarter sales, helped by strong demand for essential goods, including groceries and drugs. Loblaw shares took a header $4.47, or 3.5%, to $124.19.
Barclays downgraded Canada Goose Holdings to "equal-weight" from "overweight". Canada Goose shares grabbed a penny to $25.79.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.64 points to 606.79.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, with health-care soaring 1.5%, utilities booming 1.2%, and financials richer by 0.6%.
The four laggards were mainly weighed by energy, slumping 1.1%, consumer staples, off 0.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks, fading 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose slightly Wednesday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.
The Dow Jones Industrials inched higher 2.03 points, or 1.1%, to 33,686.56.
The S&P 500 gained 6.56 points to 4,126.27.
The NASDAQ Composite held firm 44.57 points to 12,125.07.
Shares of PacWest gained 7% after losing nearly 28% the prior day. Western Alliance shares were also up 2.6%.
The Fed is scheduled to release its latest policy announcement at 2 p.m. ET. Chair Jerome Powell is also set to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Data from the CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows traders are pricing in an 86% chance the Fed raises rates by 25 basis points. Wall Street will also look for clues on whether the central bank will continue its rate hiking campaign, or if it will pause increases.
The announcement will come after a rough session for the market. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fell more than 1% on Tuesday.
Ongoing concerns of contagion in the regional banking sector weighed on markets following the First Republic Bank’s collapse and subsequent takeover by JPMorgan.
Payroll processing firm ADP reported private payrolls data on Wednesday, which showed that hiring at private companies unexpectedly swelled in April by more than double of what economists had expected. The surge suggests that the labor market remains hot despite the Fed’s attempts to cool hiring and wage growth.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury moved up, lowering yields to 3.38% from Tuesday’s 3.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $2.63 to $69.03 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $1.60 to $2,021.70 U.S. an ounce.
