Equities in Canada`s biggest market jumped for a third straight day on Wednesday , as energy and financial stocks climbed amid higher oil prices and increasing speculation that the recent sell-off was overdone.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rocketed 312.18 points, or 2.5%, to close Wednesday at 12,867.18.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.81 cents to 72.95 cents U.S.
A three-day rally has boosted the benchmark index’s performance to be the best this year among 24 developed equity markets tracked by Bloomberg.
Financial stocks contributed to Wednesday’s rally. Manulife Financial Corp. gained $1.25, or 7.5% to $17.88, while Royal Bank of Canada added $1.54, or 2.2%, to $70.95.
Among energy issues, Canadian Natural Resources leaped $1.95, or 7%, to $29.80, and Suncor Energy jumped $1.88, or 6.1%, to $32.89.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. jumped a dollar, or 25.6%, to $4.91, and Teck Resources Ltd. rose $1.32, or 18.6%, to $8.42, as copper prices climbed.
Bombardier Inc. surged 19 cents, or 21.1%, to $1.09, the most since December, as the manufacturer won a crucial order for its new C Series jet from Air Canada. The company also revealed a plan to cut 7,000 jobs and said it plans a reverse stock split. Meanwhile, Air Canada retreated $1.02, or 12.1%, to $7.39.
Consumer discretionary companies advanced for a third consecutive day. Intertain Group gained 52 cents, or 6.5%, to $8.55, while Restaurant Brands International added 39 cents to $47.30.
Shares in e-commerce company Shopify gained $2.22, or 7.8%, to $30.70, after posting strong quarterly results and 2016 forecasts.
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 jumped 7.62 points, or 1.5%, to 518.02
All but one of the 13 TSX subgroups advanced, with metals and mining leaping 13.7%, energy surging 5.7%, and health-care the better by 3.3%.
Telecoms ended the session unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed more than 1.5% higher Wednesday for their largest three-day gain since late August, helped by some recovery in oil prices and encouraging economic data.
The Dow Jones industrial average popped 215.86 points, or 1.3%, to finish the day at 16,412.27, briefly swinging into positive territory for February in intraday trade. Chevron leading advancers and Pfizer and McDonald's the only decliners.
The S&P 500 acquired 26.63 points, or 1.4%, to 1,922.21, topping the psychologically key 1,900 level in intraday trade for the first time since Feb. 5 and came within 10% of its 52-week intraday high, out of correction territory on an intraday basis. Energy traded 3% higher to lead advancers.
The NASDAQ index spiked 78.06 points, or 1.8%, to 4,514.02.
Reuters, citing the Iranian oil ministry's official Shana news agency, quoted the country’s oil minister as saying he supports any effort to stabilize the market and prices. The Iran oil minister also said in the report the Tehran oil producers meeting was good.
The minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers worried last month that tighter global financial conditions could hit the American economy, and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016.
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 1.81% from Tuesday’s 1.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.60 a barrel to $30.64 U.S.
Gold prices shone brighter $7.90 to $1,208.34 U.S. an ounce.
