Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Wednesday, helped by strength in energy stocks, while investors evaluated the prospect of a Democrat-controlled Senate in the United States.
The TSX tacked on 95.32 points to kick off Wednesday at 17,777.83.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.015 cents to 78.74 cents U.S.
BMO raised the target price on Finning International to $32.00 from $23.00. Finning spiked $1.72, or 6.3%, to $29.17.
Scotiabank raises target price on Pinnacle Renewable Energy to $11.00 from $9.00. Pinnacle shares acquired 13 cents, or 1.4%, to $9.37.
TD Securities raises target price on Endeavour Silver to $8.00 from $6.00. Endeavour shares let go of 19 cents, or 2.6%, to $7.03.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the whole nation was frustrated by how slowly provinces are vaccinating people against the coronavirus and promised Ottawa would help speed the pace of inoculations.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 3.81 points, or 1.2%, to 899.85
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground early Wednesday, with financials richer by 1.2%, utilities climbing 1.1%, and industrials up 1%.
The two laggards were information technology, down 0.8%, and gold, off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were mixed Wednesday as Wall Street kept an eye on two runoff elections in Georgia that will determine control of the Senate.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 270.7 points to open for business Wednesday at 30,662.30.
The S&P 500 hiked 10.61 points to 3,737.47.
The NASDAQ subsided 81.82 points to 12,737.14.
Democrat Raphael Warnock is reportedly projected to win the Georgia U.S. Senate special election runoff against incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. In the other Senate runoff election, Democrat Jon Ossoff was leading Republican Sen. David Perdue, but media outlets said the race was too close to call.
If both Democrats win, that would make a 50-50 tie in the upper chamber, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker vote to give the party control of the Senate.
Some on Wall Street fear that a Democrat-controlled Senate could lead to higher corporate taxes and tougher regulations on companies, which could weigh on the broader market. However, this outcome could also facilitate the passing of additional fiscal stimulus, which could give a boost to companies hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tech stocks could be hit the hardest if Democrats control the Senate as investors rotate away from growth stocks and into names that would benefit most from another stimulus. Also, higher tax rates could hit tech shares more than the rest of the market. Apple and Facebook both fell more than 2%.
Certain stocks gained on expectations for another stimulus to fight the COVID economic slowdown. Goldman Sachs expects another big stimulus package to the tune of $600 billion in the near term if Democrats prevail and take the Senate.
United Airlines shares rose 1%, and Carnival Corp. was higher by 0.6%.
JPMorgan Chase advanced 2.5% and Bank of America shares were up 4.4%, amid the 10-year yield topping the 1% milestone as higher rates should help their bottom lines.
On the data front, private payrolls fell 123,000 in December, marking the first contraction since the early days of the pandemic, according to a report from ADP. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting growth of 60,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury collapsed, propelling yields to 1.05% from Tuesday’s 0.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained four cents to $49.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $18.40 to $1,936.00 U.S. an ounce.
