The TSX turned to a gain Wednesday, shortly after the release of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting. The benchmark index had been down 50 points prior to the statement.
The S&P/TSX composite index regained 63.71 points to close Wednesday at 14,962.24
The Canadian dollar triumphed 1.86 cents to 80.07 cents U.S.
Gold stocks led the parade, as Barrick Gold shot higher 65 cents, or 4.9%, to $13.82. Goldcorp was better by 36 cents, or 1.5%, to $23.85.
Energy stocks climbed even though oil prices remained low due to concerns on increasing crude oil inventories. Imperial Oil acquired 88 cents, or 1.9%, to $48.31, while Suncor Energy picked up 82 cents, or 2.3%, to $35.93.
Miners and financials, however, reduced their midday losses. Teck Resources picked up 56 cents to $17.83.
TD still lagged yesterday’s close by 12 cents to $54.00, while RBC retreated 21 cents to $75.95.
The health-care group rose, though Valeant Pharmaceuticals dropped 57 cents to $255.71
Pacific Rubiales Energy, which almost hit a six-and-a-half-year low, was still the most heavily traded stock. It closed unchanged from Tuesday, at $2.65.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade for January recorded the largest monthly decline since January 2009, decreasing 3.1% to $53.7 billion, which more than offset the gain in December.
The agency goes on to say sales were down in four of seven sub-sectors, led by motor vehicle and parts. Excluding this sub-sector, wholesale sales declined 1.3%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 7.15 points to 666.36
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups ended the day up, with gold shares ahead 2.7%, energy climbing 2.5%, and consumer staples up 1.2%.
The three laggards were co-anchored by consumer discretionaries and financials, each down 0.4%, while telecoms were off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday as investors cheered the Federal Reserve's statement that indicated a rate hike would come later rather than sooner.
The Dow Jones Industrials screamed higher 227.11 points, or 1.3%, to 18,076.19
The S&P 500 added 25.14 points to 2,099.42. The NASDAQ index hiked 45.39 points to 4,982.83
Starbucks announced a two-for-one stock split, with shareholders as of March 30 to get one additional share for each one they have. The change is the first split since October 2005 and the sixth one overall.
FedEx posted earnings that beat on revenue that was slightly below estimates. The company's full-year guidance was also slightly lower than expected, but its commentary was generally upbeat and analysts have pointed out that FedEx guidance tends to be on the conservative side.
General Mills reported adjusted quarterly profit of 70 cents U.S. per share, three cents above estimates, with revenue also beating Street consensus. The cereal maker and food producer said it expects to continue "strong growth" during the current quarter.
Williams-Sonoma, Guess and Cintas are all due to report after the bell.
Alibaba's share lock-up expires on Wednesday, allowing the Chinese e-commerce and web conglomerate to sell up to 437 million of its shares.
Apple is scheduled to replace AT&T in the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday after the bell, as Visa implements a four-for-one stock split.
American Airlines will replace Allergan in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on March 20. Allergan is in the process of being purchased by Actavis.
Last week, Skyworks Solutions replaced PetSmart in the index on BC Partner's acquisition of the pet supplies retailer.
The Fed dropped the word "patient" from its March meeting statement, a subtle indication that the era of zero interest rates is about to end.
However, the U.S. central bank came off as mostly dovish as the Federal Open Market Committee lowered its December rate outlook by about 50 basis points.
In more housing news, weekly mortgage applications fell 3.9% despite the drop in interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained sharply, lowering yields to 1.95% from Tuesday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.83 to $44.89 U.S.
Gold prices popped $19.30 to $1,167.50 U.S.
