Equities in Canada’s biggest market rose early on Wednesday, helped by strength in banking stocks and a surge in shares of Bombardier Inc after the planemaker signed a deal to sell commercial jets to Air Canada.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index leaped 103.45 points to open Wednesday at 12,685.43.
The Canadian dollar moved higher 0.36 cents to 72.49 cents U.S.
Air Canada said its costs would fall this year if the Canadian dollar remained unchanged from 2015 levels, and announced plans to buy up to 75 CS300 aircraft from Bombardier Inc as part of a plan to renew its fleet.
The Maple Leaf airline saw its shares plummet 81 cents, or 9.6%, to $7.60.
Meantime, Bombardier said it would reduce its workforce by about 7,000 over the next two years, while ramping up hiring to support production of its CSeries commercial jets.
Bombardier shares ballooned 15 cents, or 16.7%, to $1.05.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals got a small shot in the arm late in 2015 when a number of big-name investors made new bets or added to their existing positions at a time when the embattled drug company's stock price was cheaper than it had been in months.
Valeant stock added nine cents a share to $127.09.
Barclays cut the target price on Bank of Montreal to $60.00 from $71.00. BMO shares gained 85 cents, or 1.2%, to $74.03.
Moreover, Barclays cut the target price on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to $74.00 from $93.00.
Commerce shares spiked $1.01, or 1.1%, to $90.02.
Barclays then cut the target price on Royal Bank of Canada to $58.00 from $71.00. RBC shares moved forward 55 cents to $69.96.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that Canadians bought $17.4 billion of foreign securities in December, a second consecutive month of strong investment abroad. On the other side, foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $1.4 billion, led by federal government debt securities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.61 points to 513.01
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups advanced, with metals and mining barging ahead 5.3%, health-care haler by 1.6%, and energy 1.4% more energetic.
Only gold stocks missed the party, shedding 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher Wednesday, trying for a three-day win streak, helped by a rise in oil prices and some encouraging economic data ahead of the afternoon release of the Fed meeting minutes.
The Dow Jones industrial average sprang up 178.16 points, or 1.1%, to open at 16,374.57, with Boeing and Goldman Sachs the top contributors to gains.
The S&P 500 acquired 18.17 points, or 1%, to 1,913.75, topping the psychologically-key 1,900 level in intraday trade for the first time since Feb. 5. Financials was among the top advancers.
The NASDAQ index spiked 62.64 points, or 1.4%, to 4,498.60,
In economic news, industrial production for January rose 0.9%, while capacity utilization was 77.1%
U.S. producer prices unexpectedly rose last month, rising 0.1% after falling 0.2% in December. Excluding food and energy, PPI rose 0.4%
Housing starts fell 3.8% in January, while building permits fell 0.2%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, raising yields to 1.83% from Tuesday’s 1.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 77 cents a barrel to $29.81 U.S.
Gold prices took on $10.81 to $1,211.25 U.S. an ounce.
