Equities in Toronto rose on Wednesday, as the Bank of Canada held interest rates steady and raised its second-quarter growth forecast as expected, while highlighting the risks that trade wars posed to the global economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index acquired 77.47 points to start the session at 16,622.68
The Canadian dollar re-claimed 0.28 cents to 76.45 cents U.S.
The top percentage gainers on the TSX were Gran Tierra Energy, which jumped 7.8% after and operations update followed by shares of Torex Gold Resources, which rose 6.1%.
Canntrust Holdings fell 7.2%, the most on the TSX, followed by shares of Interfor Corp, down 2%.
Economically speaking, the Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1.75%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2% and the deposit rate is 1.5%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 2.55 points to 585.48
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were in the green in the first hour, as energy jumped 2.5%, consumer staples towered 1.2% over yesterday, and gold shone 0.6% brighter.
The three laggards were industrials and health-care, each down 0.1%, and consumer discretionary lost 0.02%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks reached record highs Wednesday after testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered the case for easier monetary policy in the U.S.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off their highs of the morning, but still gained 88.78 points to 26,872.27
The S&P 500 gained 13.51 points to 2,993.14, having earlier broken through the 3,000-point barrier.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 52.29 points to 8,194.02
AAR Corp. and AngioDynamics are among the firms announcing earnings Wednesday.
In prepared testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Powell said business investments across the U.S. have slowed “notably” recently as uncertainties over the economic outlook linger.
His testimony comes after the Fed opened the door to cutting rates at its previous monetary policy meeting in June. The central bank dropped the word "patience" in its statement then.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained some ground, lowering yields to 2.05%, from Tuesday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices roared ahead $1.83 to $59.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $11.50 to $1,412 U.S. an ounce.
