Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre rose at the open on Wednesday, boosted by bank shares, in a day which saw strong earnings from big U.S. lenders.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index piled on the momentum at Wednesday’s open gaining 60 points to 15,106.28. The index has gained nearly 800 points since the start of 2019.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.06 cents to 75.47 cents U.S.
Magna International CEO Don Walker said global automobile and auto parts makers who want to capitalize on electric and autonomous vehicles, need to cut back investments and forge more partnerships instead
Magna shares took on 24 cents to $66.91.
National Bank of Canada raised the price target on Metro Inc. to $49.00 from $46.00. Metro shares gained 12 cents to $48.86.
Raymond James raised the price target on Tourmaline Oil to $27.50 from $24.50. Tourmaline prospered 33 cents, or 1.8%, to $18.38.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 1.29 points to 596.95. Despite the backward move, the index has tacked on nearly 40 points since the calendar year began.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were on the upward path, led by financials, perking 0.7%, consumer discretionary stocks, better by 0.6%, and industrials, 0.5% to the good.
Only utilities dawdled, and only 0.1% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered strong quarterly earnings from major banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 149.74 points to 24,215.33, as Goldman Sachs outperformed.
The S&P 500 gained 12.73 points to 2,622.03, led by a 1% gain in financials.
The NASDAQ Composite advanced 51.74 points to 7,075.57
Goldman Sachs posted blowout quarterly earnings, sending the stocks up 5.3%. Bank of America also rose 5.6% after reporting a record quarterly profit. The reports follow the releases of fourth-quarter results from Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo earlier this week. Morgan Stanley, another major bank, is scheduled to report on Thursday.
Separately, United Continental surged more than 6% after the company posted better-than expected earnings on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines and American Air Lines also rose at least 2% each Wednesday.
More than 6% of S&P 500 companies have reported calendar fourth-quarter earnings. Of those companies, 85.3% have reported better-than-expected earnings.
Equities have bounced back sharply this year after suffering massive losses to near the end of 2018. The major indexes were up at least 3.2% year to date. Since Dec. 24, they have all gained at least 8.8%. Stocks sold off towards the end of last year in part because of fear that the global economy was slowing down.
Nordstrom shares fell more than 7% after the company said sales at some stores were "below expectations" during the holiday season. Meanwhile, Snap dropped more than 11% on news the company’s CFO was resigning.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back, raising yields to 2.74% from Tuesday’s 2.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up eight cents to $52.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices raised themselves $5.20 to $1,293.60 U.S. an ounce.
