Equities moved higher in Wednesday’s first hour of trade in Toronto, led by energy stocks as crude oil prices rose, while the financials group also firmed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 55.94 points to open Wednesday at 13,456.25
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents to 74.82 cents U.S.
Sources said Mitel Networks Corp is in talks to merge with U.S. peer Polycom Inc, in a deal that would combine the voice and telephony equipment providers and heed the demands of hedge fund Elliott Management.
Shares in Mitel climbed 44 cents, or 4.8%, to $9.57.
CIBC cut the target price on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $76.00 from $82.00.
Couche-Tard shares decreased 42 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.33.
Goldman Sachs cut the rating on Detour Gold to neutral. Detour shares dipped 25 cents, or 1.3%, to $19.47.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 2.3% in January to $53.1 billion, an all-time high.
Moreover, the agency said, foreign acquisitions of Canadian securities reached $13.5 billion in January, mainly private corporate debt instruments. At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $13.8 billion, mostly equities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange ducked back 0.33 points to 567.08
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher in the early going, led by metals and mining, up 2.7%, energy, better by 1.1%, and health-care, ahead 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by consumer staples and gold, each skidding 0.2%, and utilities, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks south of the border struggled for gains Wednesday ahead of the scheduled afternoon conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial average faded 17.3 points to 17,234.23, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most to declines.
The S&P 500 poked ahead 1.53 points to 2,017.46
The NASDAQ index improved 8.57 points to 4,737.24, as Apple gained
Investors also digested inflation figures Wednesday. Ex-food and energy, the so-called core Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in February for a 2.3% rise over the 12 months through February. The overall consumer price index showed a 0.2% decline.
Housing starts rose 5.2% in February.
Industrial production data declined 0.5% in February, with capacity utilization at 76.7%
Weekly mortgage application volume fell 3.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. It is nearly 21% higher than the same week one year ago.
The Federal Open Market Committee is due to conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday with the 2 p.m. ET release of its statement and economic projections. Those include the highly scrutinized "dot plot," which shows the targets for appropriate federal funds rates by FOMC participants.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen is also scheduled to give a news conference at 2:30 p.m.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped, raising yields to 1.99% from Tuesday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.11 a barrel to $37.45 U.S.
Gold prices sank $1.03 to $1,231.35 U.S. an ounce.
