The U.S. Federal Reserve's reassurance that interest rates will stay low for a good while yet pushed the Toronto stock market higher for a second day.
The S&P/TSX composite index had advanced 11.26 to end the day at 12,100.66.
The rise added to an 81-point runup on Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept a key lending rate at a historically low level of zero to 0.25%. The central bank added that it will keep rates unchanged "for an extended period."
But investors were also encouraged by comments that the U.S. economy is showing signs of improvement.
The base metals sector was up as May copper rose six cents to $3.42 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources improved 48 cents to $41.97 while HudBay Minerals climbed seven cents to $13.67.
The telecom sector was also up, with Rogers Communications up 46 cents to $35.70.
Telus Corp. announced it will put $650 million into further operating and capital investments for Alberta’s wireless market and its shares inched up 23 cents to $35.93.
The energy sector gained ground, as Suncor Energy gained 76 cents to $32.12 but Encana Corp. fell 89 cents to $32.70.
Meanwhile, leaders of the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, have agreed to leave production quotas unchanged.
The TSX global gold index was slightly higher Barrick Gold Corp. has suspended activities at its Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania after three workers were killed in a cave-in. Its shares rose six cents to $40.90.
In earnings news, Ivanhoe Energy Inc. reported an $11.9-million net loss for the latest quarter, an improvement from the $14-million loss from a year ago. Oil revenue declined to $5.3 million on a lower benchmark crude oil price and its shares declined 10 cents to $3.65.
Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. shares were up $2.06 to $57.15 as it said Tuesday that despite stellar fourth quarter earnings, profits dropped 40 per cent in 2009 mainly due to lower oil and natural gas prices. Net earnings for the year dropped to $145 million. Fourth-quarter net earnings doubled to $57.1 million compared to year-earlier profits of $28.1 million.
Jinshan Gold Mines Inc. shares declined 20 cents to $4.24 after it said it has restated three quarters of financial results to reflect a change in how it accounts for interest on some of its loans.
As a result, the company expects to recognize $2.9 million in additional net gains for the nine months ended Sept. 30, which will lift it from a loss of $5.1 million to a loss of $2.2 million in the nine-month period.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said wholesales sales in current dollars rose the strongest in three years by 3% to $44.4 billion in January. The growth in January was contributed by all the sectors, with automotive products, building materials, machinery and electronic equipments recording notable gains.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.33 cents to 98.97 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups ended the day in positive territory, Health-care stocks performed the best, up 1.3%, followed by a 0.9% jump for real-estate issues, and 0.5% for energy stocks.
The four laggards were weighed by information technology, backpedaling 0.5%, gold, off 0.4%, and materials, down 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was settled back 0.75 points to 1,577.78, while the Nasdaq Canada index stumbled 3.78 to 804.86.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rallied Wednesday, with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all closing at new fresh 2010 highs, after the U.S. and Japanese central banks chose to keep interest rates low and the Senate passed a key jobs bill.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 47.69 points, or 0.5%, closing at 10,733.67, the highest close since 10,831.07 on Oct. 1, 2008.
The S&P 500 index rose 6.75 points, or 0.6%, closing at 1,166.21, the highest close since 1,213.01 on Sept. 26, 2008.
The Nasdaq composite gained 11.08 points, or 0.5%, closing at 2,389.09, its highest point since 2,411.64 on Aug. 28, 2008.
Stocks were moderately higher in the morning, but picked up the pace in the afternoon after the Senate passed a key jobs bill and the dollar's weakness sparked a rally in commodity prices and stocks.
Stocks have been moving higher fairly steadily over the last few weeks, with the Dow and S&P 500 rising in 14 of the last 15 sessions and the Nasdaq rising in 13 of the last 15 sessions through Wednesday's close.
Experts said stocks are moving into what has been a pretty bullish period over the last five years, with the market showing good returns from March through May.
Stock gains Tuesday left the S&P 500 at a fresh near 18-month high, the Nasdaq at an 18-month high and the Dow just short of its 2010 peak. The positive sentiment continued Wednesday, as investors welcomed a report showing that wholesale inflation fell 0.6% last month in the biggest monthly decline since last July.
A sustained period of low pricing pressure would enable the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for a while.
Investors also welcomed Japan's decision to hold interest rates at a low 0.1% and double the amount of money available to banks through a short-term lending program.
Investors found their footing after a selloff in the second half of January and early part of February. However, gains have been modest and trading volume has been low as investors struggle amid a lack of clear catalysts to keep driving the market higher.
Fourth-quarter profits showed strength compared with poor results a year ago, and recent reports have suggested the pace of job losses is slowing. Yet investors are looking for more concrete signs that the economy is recovering to justify a bigger rally after last year's blowout.
In 2009, the Dow gained 19% for the year, and rose 59% from the March 9 lows.
Stocks gained Tuesday after the Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady, as expected, and said rates should stay near 0% for the foreseeable future. News that ratings agency Standard & Poor's decided not to downgrade Greece's debt helped soothe fears that the euro zone nation could default.
The Senate passed a $17.6-billion U.S. jobs bill Wednesday and sent it to President Obama to sign it into law.
The measure, which includes tax breaks and funding for highway projects, has been much debated in both houses of Congress over the last few weeks. It is seen as being the first in a series of bills designed to help bring unemployment down from its current level of 9.7%.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon to testify before the House Financial Services Committee about the central bank's supervision of banks. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, an adviser to Obama, also appeared at the hearing.
On the economic front, a government report showed the Producer Price Index fell 0.6% in February, the biggest drop in seven months, after gaining 1.4% the previous month. Economists expected the measure to dip 0.2%.
Core PPI -- which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is the more closely-monitored figure by the Fed -- rose 0.1%, in line with economists' expectations. It had climbed 0.3% in January.
Treasury prices were little changed, with the yield on the 10-year note at 3.65%, roughly where it stood late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil picked up $1.01 to $82.71 U.S.
Gold prices prospered two dollars to $1,125 U.S.
