Equity markets in Toronto forged ahead by the middle of Wednesday as a rally in gold mining and other materials stocks offset a drop in energy companies spurred by falling oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite recovered 53.46 points to 14,603.26 by noon ET.
The Canadian dollar stayed negative 0.05 cents to 75.39 cents U.S.
The most influential gainers included Teck Resources, which advanced 2.2% to $24.80, its highest in more than two years. In recent weeks, several analysts have raised their price targets on the diversified miner.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer firms, added strength, with Franco Nevada Corp rising 2.2% to $83.78.
Energy stocks backtracked, as Crescent Point Energy fell 2.1% to $17.54 and Suncor Energy slipped 0.7% to $37.13.
Prometic Life Sciences Inc jumped 7%to $3.07 after reporting promising results from a clinical trial.
ON BAY STREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.46 points to 769.21.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups approached noon ahead, with health-care galloping 2%, gold shining 1.7% brighter, and materials better by 1.3%.
The two laggards were energy, down 0.7%, and information technology, off 0.1%.
ON WALL STREET
U.S. equities started to move above the flatline on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes while digesting a rise in sovereign bond yields.
The Dow Jones Industrials strengthened 38.21 points midday to 18,166.87, with Apple gaining the most.
The S&P 500 gained 5.32 points to 2,142.05, with utilities leading advancers. Finanicals, meanwhile, also caught a bid ahead of the minutes' release, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
The NASDAQ Composite eked higher 2.33 points to 5,249.12
Investors also kept an eye on quarterly corporate reports, as earnings season kicked off Tuesday with Alcoa posting weaker-than-expected results.
Railroad giant CSX is expected to report quarterly results Wednesday after the bell.
In economic news, mortgage applications fell 6% last week as rising rates weighed. The August job openings and labor turnover survey, also released Wednesday, showed the number of job opening falling to 5.4 million.
The Treasury Department sold $24 billion in three-year notes, an auction which saw the highest yield since January. The department is also scheduled to sell $20 billion in 10-year notes at 1 p.m. ET.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped slightly, raising yields to 1.79% from Tuesday’s 1.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 63 cents to $50.16 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices sank $1.20 to $1,254.70 U.S. an ounce.
