Equities in Toronto finished Wednesday in positive country, following word from central bankers on both sides of the border.
The TSX Composite hung onto gains of 68.03 points to 21,593.06.
The Canadian dollar popped 0.41 cents at 73.98 cents U.S.
Materials led the parade of gainers, with Lithium Americas Argentina climbing 72 cents, or 11.1%, to $7.19, while Orla Mining gained 32 cents, or 6.7%, to $5.10.
Gold triumphed, too, with Iamgold acquiring 24 cents, or 6.3%, to $4.08, while Wesdome Gold took on 49 cents, or 5%, to $10.21.
Communications moved up as well, most notably, TELUS, ahead 31 cents, or 1.3%, to $23.65, while BCE advanced 34 cents to $49.13.
Health-care concerns went the other way, as Bausch Health Companies slid 55 cents, or4.2%, to $12.44, while Sienna Senior Living dropped 27 cents, or 2.1%, to $12.83.
In industrials, Finning International shed 40 cents, or 1.1%, to $35.14, while Brookfield Business Partner units dipped 20 cents to $28.75.
Real-estate issues were also weak, with H&R REIT units down 11 cents, or 1.2%, to $8.95, while Storagevault dipped 13 cents, or 2.5%, to $5.15.
On the economic front, the Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5.25% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
Governor Tiff Macklem said more time was needed to ensure inflation fell towards the central bank’s 2% target.
Shortly afterwards, the IVEY School of Business revealed its PMI index skidded to 53.9 in February from 56.5 in January but rose from February 2023’s reading of 51.6.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 6.73 points, or 1.2%, to 575.01.
All but three of the 12 subgroups ended the day positive, with materials up 1.3%, gold brighter 0.9%, and communications ahead 0.8%.
The three laggards were health-care issues, off 1.9%, while industrials and real-estate each fell back 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Wednesday, with the market turning a corner following back-to-back losing sessions on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished above water 75.86 points Wednesday to 38,661.05. The blue-chip average was weighed down by a drop of more than 2% in Disney.
The S&P 500 gained 26.11 points to 5,104.76.
The NASDAQ hiked 91.96 points to 16,031.54.
Wednesday’s advances mark a reprieve after the three major averages notched two straight days of declines, pulling the market off record highs. But gains were kept in check as Apple fell into the red once again and concerns swirled around troubled regional bank New York Community Bancorp.
While the NASDAQ saw gains Wednesday, some major tech names sat out of the rally. Apple fell for its sixth straight trading day, capping gains even as mega-cap darling Nvidia climbed more than 3%. Alphabet and Tesla also both traded lower in the session.
Despite Wednesday’s action, the three major indexes were still down on the week.
Regional bank stocks swung between gains and losses in the session after New York Community Bancorp announced a $1 billion capital raise. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) ended the day slightly lower after trading more than 2% lower during the trading day.
Shares of NYCB rose about 7.5% after tumbling more than 40% earlier in the session. Trading in the stock was halted several times throughout the day.
In prepared remarks for appearances on Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank could lower interest rates this year. But the Fed chief said the bank is not immediately ready to cut the cost of borrowing money.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury bounced, lowering yields to 4.11% from Tuesday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gathered 91 cents to $79.06 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $13.20 to $2,154.10.
