CORRECTS DIRECTION OF BOND NUMBERS
Canada's main stock index edged up on Wednesday, after the health-care sector got a boost from cannabis producers.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index eked up 11.71 points to greet noon at 16,028.94
The Canadian dollar ducked lower 0.02 cents to 77.97 cents.
Top gainers among financials were shares of Thomson Reuters Corp, which rose $3.13, or 5.5% to $60.49, after the parent of Reuters News announced early results for a cash tender offer.
The healthcare sector was boosted by shares of Canopy Growth, which rose $2.75, or 4.7%, to $61.30, and Aurora Cannabis, up $2.33, or 1.8%, to $12.26.
NovaGold Resources fell four cents to $4.90.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were Royal Nickel, Aurora Cannabis and Aphria. Royal Nickel fell 10 cents, or 11%, to 81 cents. Aphria popped 91 cents, or 5.7%, to $16.93.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.44 points to 706.90
The 12 subgroups were evenly split Wednesday noon, as health-care sprinted 2.5%, information technology acquired 1.1%, and energy moved up 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.3%, materials, sliding 0.9%, and utilities, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as bank shares jumped on rising interest rates following the release of strong U.S. economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average piled another 114.36 points atop Tuesday’s all-time close to 26,888.30
The S&P 500 gained 11.97 points to 2,935.34, as financials rose 0.8%.
The NASDAQ restored 43.06 points to 8,042.60, with Apple rising more than 0.5%, with Apple rising more than 1%.
Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup both rose 1%, while Bank of America gained 1.6%.
General Motors shares jumped more than 2% after the company announced Honda is investing in GM's Cruise Holdings subsidiary. The two automakers will work toward building an autonomous vehicle. GM also said Honda's investment puts Cruise's valuation at $14.6 billion.
The Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index reached its highest level on record, according to data released Wednesday.
Private payrolls increased by 230,000 in September — the most since February — according to a report from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Economists polled by Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters) expected a gain of 185,000. The report is often seen as a preview to the government's non-farm payrolls report, which is set for release Friday morning.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury posted sharp losses, hiking yields to 3.12% from Tuesday’s 3.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved 28 cents at $75.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices descended $3.90 to $1,203.10 U.S. an ounce.
