Stocks in Canada’s largest centre ended higher on Wednesday, boosted by solid gains for energy stocks as oil prices jumped, while Barrick
Gold rose after it resumed operations at a mine in Argentina.
The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 89.57 points Wednesday to 14,610.58
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.06 cents to 75.87 cents U.S.
Energy was the hero Wednesday, with Enerplus moving skyward 70 cents, or 7.7%, to $9.81, while Baytex Energy gathered 46 cents, or 8.5%, to $8.57.
Industrials proved runners-up among gainers, as Air Canada flew 56 cents, or 5%, to $11.88, while Canadian National Railway chugged ahead $1.34, or 1.5%, to $88.32.
Barrick, for its part, soared 68 cents, or 3.3%, to $21.07, while rival Goldcorp eked ahead three cents to $19.03.
Telecoms were among the groups below breakeven, as BCE lost 32 cents to $59.87, while Rogers Communications surrendered 25 cents to $55.12
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that our exports increased 0.6% to $43.4 billion in August, while imports were largely unchanged at $45.3 billion.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $2.2 billion in July to $1.9 billion in August.
ON BAY STREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 11.69 points, or 1.5%, to 778.50
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by the close, as energy moved skyward 2.4%, industrials were 1.2% mightier, and materials gathered 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by utilities, down 0.9%, telecoms, off 0.7%, and real-estate, sliding 0.6%.
ON WALL STREET
Equities south of the border closed higher on Wednesday, led by energy and financials, as investors parsed through a slew of economic data while watching surging oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 112.58 points to 18,281.03, with Caterpillar leading advancers and Verizon the top decliner.
The S&P 500 was positive 9.24 points to 2,159.73, with energy leading eight sectors higher and telecommunications the biggest laggard.
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 26.36 points to 5,316.02
The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories decreased by three million barrels, marking the fifth straight week of declines.
Oil prices had risen earlier in the session, after the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday afternoon that U.S. oil inventories had decreased by 7.6 million barrels.
On the data front, companies in September created jobs at the slowest pace in six months as the labour market south of the border showed further signs of tightening, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody's Analytics. ADP's report is seen as a preview of the U.S. government's monthly non-farm payrolls report, due Friday morning.
Other data released Wednesday included the U.S. trade deficit, which widened to $40.7 billion in August, while weekly mortgage applications rose 2.9% last week. Factory orders and Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing both came in better than expected.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 1.71% from Tuesday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite
directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.04 to $49.73 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped 80 cents to $1,268.90 U.S. an ounce.
