Markets in Toronto found strength as morning became afternoon on Wednesday, following the rate announcement by the Bank of Canada which offered no change.
The TSX Composite changed gears and moved higher 63.62 midday Wednesday to 19,050.11.
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.15 cents at 72.62 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Bloomberg News reports Bank of Montreal is exploring the sale of a recreational vehicle loan portfolio. Shares in “The First Canadian Bank” regained 20 cents to $35.18.
As expected, the Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5.25% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange poked ahead 1.1 points to 524.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups surged midday, with consumer staples and industrials each rocketing 1.1%, while materials gained 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 2.4%, information technology, sagging 1.4%, and real-estate, off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ and S&P 500 Wednesday as a pullback in shares of Google-parent Alphabet following its latest quarterly results led the broader technology space lower. A rebound in the 10-year Treasury yield also weighed on growth-related shares.
The Dow Jones Industrials inched higher 8.83 points to 33,150.21.
The S&P 500 index faltered 42.58 points, or 1%, to 4,205.10.
The NASDAQ slumped 227.10 points, or 1.7%, to 12,13.11.
Alphabet shares tumbled more than 8% as its cloud business missed analysts’ estimates, overshadowing its strong revenue growth and earnings beat. The decline in Alphabet stock is its worst fall since October 2022. The S&P 500 communication services sector shed nearly 5%, and is on track for its worst day since October 2022. Alphabet is the largest component of the sector.
Shares of peer tech behemoths and Apple and Amazon meanwhile, slipped 0.3% and 3.3%, respectively. Amazon is set to report third-quarter results after the closing bell on Thursday.
Microsoft stood out as an outlier among the decline in tech stocks on Tuesday, with shares gaining nearly 3% after first-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates.
Tech firms IBM and Meta will post quarterly results in the afternoon. About 29% of S&P 500 companies have posted third-quarter earnings thus far. Of those companies, 78% have exceeded expectations.
Microsoft stood out as an outlier among the decline in tech stocks on Tuesday, with shares gaining more than 4% after first-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, propelling yields to 4.92% from Tuesday’s 4.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recouped 62 cents to $84.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $7.80 to $1,989.00.
