Equities in Canada’s biggest financial market rose to a near two-week high Wednesday, as mining and energy stocks led a broad rise with higher commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite leaped 112.51 points to open Wednesday at 14,634.49
The Canadian dollar was unchanged in price at 75.82 cents U.S.
Among gold and materials issues, Barrick Gold rose 2.3% to $23.24 and Goldcorp advanced 3% to $21.40.
TransCanada Corp rose 1.1% to $62.63, while the overall energy group was up healthily.
BlackBerry has agreed to offer anti-hacking software from a startup that last year discovered a major Android bug, it said, as the once-dominant smartphone company seeks to leverage ties to corporate and government clients to boost its software revenue. Its shares rose 1.3% to $10.11.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that July wholesale trade rose 0.3% to $56.5 billion in July, a fourth straight gain. The agency says increases were recorded in five of seven sub-sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 8.01 points to 811.22
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as gold screamed higher 3%, materials were up 2%, and energy spiked 1.4%.
The three laggards were real-estate, down 0.5%, while consumer staples and telecoms each fell 0.1%.
ON WALL STREET
U.S. stocks came off their highs of the day Wednesday, with the NASDAQ plunging, as investors eagerly awaited the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and digested the Bank of Japan's monetary policy overhaul.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained a mere 3.23 points to 18,133.19, with Microsoft leading advancers and Walt Disney the biggest laggard.
The S&P 500 was higher but 1.68 points to 2,141.44, with energy leading eight sectors higher and real-estate lagging.
The NASDAQ Composite settled into the red 4.15 points to 5,237.21, as Apple fell 0.7%.
The U.S. central bank is largely expected to keep interest rates unchanged. According to the Royal Bank of Scotland, market expectations for a rate hike Wednesday were 22%.
The Fed is scheduled to release a statement announcing its latest decision on monetary policy at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a news conference held by Fed Chair Janet Yellen at 2:30 p.m. ET.
In oil markets, U.S. crude prices rose, after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. oil inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained strength, lowering yields to Tuesday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.17 at $45.22 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices muscled higher $13.10 at $1,331.30 U.S. an ounce.
