Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Wednesday supported by a rise in oil prices, as a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories buoyed hopes for a recovery in demand.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index regained 74.05 points to begin mid-week Wednesday at 16,195.37.
The Canadian dollar rebounded 0.08 cents to 74.82 cents U.S.
Sun Life Financial expects Asia's contribution to its income to rise to about 25% in five to six years, from 18% now, driven by its push to sell insurance products via digital channels and higher demand after the coronavirus pandemic.
Shares in the insurer picked up five cents to $52.57.
Royal Bank of Canada said on Tuesday it reached a mutual agreement to end all sponsorships with and donations to Canada's WE Charity, which has been
drawn into controversy surrounding an ethics inquiry into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Shares in Canada’s largest bank dropped 34 cents to $92.15.
Credit Suisse raised the target price on Altagas to $18.00 from $17.00. Altagas faltered 25 cents, or 1.5%, to $16.45.
Canaccord Genuity raised target price on Dundee Precious Metals to $11.25 from $10.50. Dundee shares lost 12 cents, or 1.3%, to $9.24.
Credit Suisse raised target price on TransAlta to $11.50 from $10.00. TransAlta shares retreated three cents to $8.44.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 1.32 points to 707.79.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower by the closing bell, with energy scaling 3.6%, consumer discretionary stocks falling 0.7%, and financials, off 0.5%.
The four gainers were led by health-care, screaming ahead 6.8%, while real-estate towered over Monday’s close by 1.3%, and utilities, 0.3% to the good.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose slightly Wednesday as investors awaited a congressional hearing on antitrust in Big Tech as well as the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 68.15 points to begin Wednesday at 26,447.43.
The S&P 500 regained 21.4 points to 3,239.84.
The NASDAQ recovered 99.03 points, or 1%, to 10,501.12.
The Fed will conclude its two-day policy meeting Wednesday and is set to release a statement at 2 p.m. ET. Chairman Jerome Powell will have a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The central bank is expected to keep short-term interest rates unchanged at near zero to support the economy still struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, the Fed announced it would extend its emergency lending programs through the remainder of 2020.
Meanwhile, the chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google-parent Alphabet will testify before the House Antitrust Subcommittee later Wednesday following a yearlong probe into their anti-competitive practices. Investors will look for insights on how the Big Tech is handling antitrust challenges from regulators with the authority to break them up.
Shares of Big Tech are among the best performers this year. Facebook and Alphabet are both up more than 12% year to date entering Wednesday’s session. Amazon has skyrocketed 62.4% over that time and Apple is up 27%.
The busiest week of the earnings season continued, with General Electric and Boeing releasing their latest quarterly figures. GE reported stronger-than-forecast revenue, sending the stock up 0.4%. Boeing posted a wider-than-expected loss.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices popped more than 10% after the chipmaker posted on Tuesday better-than-expected quarterly earnings and issued an upbeat guidance for the year.
Starbucks swung to a loss during its fiscal third quarter, but the world’s largest coffee chain raised its forecast for the current quarter, sending shares up more than 3%.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were unchanged, leaving yields at Tuesday’s 0.58%.
Oil prices recaptured 32 cents to $41.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $3.30 to $1,947.90 U.S. an ounce.
