Equities in Toronto opened higher on Wednesday, adding to two days of solid gains, in a broad rally led by heavyweight resource stocks and as technology whiz CGI Group Inc jumped 5% to its highest level since May.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved forward 20.55 points to open Wednesday at 13,730.86
The Canadian dollar sank 0.35 cents at 76.21 cents U.S.
Air Canada has been forced by the courts to keep heavy maintenance operations in Montreal. The facility was operated by the former Aveos Fleet Performance, once an important Air Canada contractor. Tuesday's court decision said Air Canada was contravening the act by not maintaining an aircraft overhaul operations in Montreal.
Shares in the Maple Leaf airline inched up nine cents to $10.77.
Glencore Plc has agreed to sell future silver output from its stake in the Antamina copper mine in Peru to Silver Wheaton Minerals for $900 million in cash in a so-called "streaming" deal, the two companies said on Tuesday. In terms of the transaction, Silver Wheaton will also make ongoing payments of 20% of the spot price for silver for every ounce of metal delivered.
Silver Wheaton added 13 cents to $33.24.
A further delay or outright rejection of the TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL project risks a looming capacity crunch on Western Canada's pipeline network, causing more pain for producers already struggling with weak global crude prices.
An outright rejection would be a death knell for the pipeline intended to ship 830,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude to Nebraska and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Even if the requested seven- to 12-month pause is granted, and permits are received, the pipeline looks unlikely to start before 2019 at the earliest.
TransCanada gained 50 cents, or 1.1%, to $44.94.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn made a cryptic reference suggesting he has an interest in embattled drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday, and said he was speaking to U.S. politicians about a corporate cash repatriation law that would deter so-called tax inversion deals.
Valeant shares collapsed 59 cents to $127.06.
RBC raised the target price on Quebecor to $37 from $36, says the Canadian telecom stocks are a relative safe haven with stable and resilient growth, solid balance sheets, attractive dividend yields.
Quebecor shares tacked on 41 cents, or 1.3%, to $31.68.
National Bank Financial cut the rating on Timmins Gold to sector perform from outperform following the company’s third-quarter results.
Timmins Gold dipped two cents, or 8%, to 23 cents.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that our imports declined 1.3% in September while exports increased 0.7%.
Consequently, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $2.7 billion in August to $1.7 billion in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 2.32 points to 543.60.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher to begin the day, with metals and mining ballooning 3.8%, health-care up 2.5%, and information technology ahead 1.5%.
The three laggards were energy, off 0.5%, industrials, inching up 0.1%, and consumer discretionaries eking up 0.02%.
Real-estate issues were flat at the open.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range Wednesday, struggling for a third-straight day of gains, as investors looked for more clues on the timing of a rate hike from a slew of data and Fed speakers.
The Dow Jones industrial average forged ahead 3.64 points to begin the session at 17,921.79, with Caterpillar contributing the most to gains and UnitedHealth the greatest weight on the index.
The S&P 500 subsided 3.87 points to 2,105.92, as the energy sector lagged.
The NASDAQ index faded 6.37 points to 5,138.75, as biotech stocks declined, offsetting gains in Apple and Microsoft.
Tesla reported an adjusted quarterly loss and in-line revenue, but focused more on an upbeat production outlook for the electric car maker.
Facebook and Qualcomm are among the firms reporting after the close.
The October Purchasing Managers’ Index services figure came in at 54.8, down from 55.1 in September, Markit said.
The non-manufacturing Institute for Supply Management report showed 59.1 for October, versus 56.9 in September.
With two days to Friday's non-farm payrolls report, the ADP employment report showed private companies added 182,000 jobs in October.
September's trade deficit came in at $40.8 billion U.S., its lowest level in seven months, Reuters reported.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on bank regulation and supervision.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, dropping yields to 2.21% from Tuesday’s 2.22%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 25 cents a barrel to $47.65 U.S.
Gold prices faded $2.71 to $1,115.08 U.S. an ounce.
