Equity markets in Toronto rose on Wednesday, led higher by energy stocks as crude oil prices rallied while financial sector stocks gained after the Bank of Canada chose to hold interest rates steady.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved higher 103.35 points to break for lunch Wednesday at 13,414.40
The Canadian dollar bolted higher 0.97 cents to 75.55 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index were Canadian Natural Resources, which rose 2.6% to $34.42, and Alimentation Couche-Tard, which gained 2.8% to $60.70.
The company said after the market closed on Tuesday that it had agreed to purchase retail assets from Imperial Oil in Ontario and Quebec.
Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank were also among the biggest gainers.
Copper prices advanced 1.6% to $4,944.5 U.S. a tonne.
The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 0.5%. The bank rate is correspondingly 0.75% and the deposit rate is 0.25%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange peeked higher 0.32 points to 570.87
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive midday, with energy racing 2%, metals and mining up 1.6%, health-care, ahead 1.5%
The two laggards were gold, down 0.8%, and materials, weakening 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks on Wall Street held mostly higher in choppy trade Wednesday as oil prices rose and investors awaited the outcome of Thursday's European Central Bank meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial average recovered 63.62 points to 17,027.72. Chevron and IBM contributed the most to gains on the Dow, while Nike and Goldman Sachs were the greatest contributors to declines.
The S&P 500 added 13.14 points to 1,992.40. Energy traded more than 2.5% higher to lead S&P 500 advancers as higher oil prices continued to bring in both short covering and longer-term positioning.
The NASDAQ index inched up 20.16 points to 4,668.98. Amazon declined about 1%, and Apple turned higher.
In economic news, weekly mortgage application volume increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Wholesale inventories rose 0.3% in January, while sales declined 1.3%.
ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to announce more stimulative measures, with hopes of expansion of the asset purchase program and a possible further cut to the already negative deposit rate.
The U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan are due to hold meetings next week.
Wednesday also marks the seventh anniversary of the bull market and the S&P 500 is up 193% since the close on March 9, 2009.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sank, lifting yields to 1.86% from Tuesday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added $1.45 a barrel to $37.95 U.S.
Gold prices fell $7.87 to $1,253.57 U.S. an ounce.
