Canada's main stock index opened higher on Wednesday, boosted by mining stocks, while investors assessed the impact of elevated bond yields and fresh hostilities in the Middle East, ahead of the Bank of Canada's interest-rate decision.
The TSX renewed 213.21 points to 36,038.94.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.04 cents to 71.92 cents.
Iran and its Arab neighbours were plunged back into war as U.S. forces hit Iran's southern coast and Iran struck at American bases across the region.
However, oil prices were little changed after hitting one-month highs earlier in the session
Against this backdrop, comments from policymakers at the Bank of Canada will be closely watched following their interest-rate decision, which revealed the rate stayed put at 2.25%.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party won three special elections on Tuesday, maintaining his slim majority in Parliament at a time of worsening U.S. trade ties.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange poked ahead 12.4 points, or 1.3%, to 969.06.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, with gold going higher 3.2%, materials gaining 3%, and health-care up 0.8%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, slumping 1%, consumer staples, off 0.5%. and real-estate, trailing Tuesday’s close by 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday, pressured by elevated bond yields, as traders worried about the impact of rising oil prices on inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials reasserted themselves 315.54 points to open Wednesday at 53,082.42, boosted by a rise in shares of healthcare stocks such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Amgen.
The much-broader index regained 17.92 points to 7,649.39.
The NASDAQ Composite edged higher 11.08 points to 26,110.85.
The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield hit a high of 4.814% on the day, a level not seen since November 2023. Yields in the U.K., Germany and France also rose. In Japan, the 10-year government yield traded around multi-decade highs.
The moves higher in oil come as the U.S. launched more military strikes on Iran, raising concern that the conflict could escalate once more.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were static, keeping yields at 4.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices settled 64 cents to $89.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $24.10 to $4,422.10 U.S. an ounce.
