U.S. stocks rebounded modestly soon after the start of trading on Wednesday, but Canada's benchmark index was weighed down by commodity producers.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32 points or 0.3 per cent, to 12,791. The broader S&P 500 rose 4 points or 0.3 per cent, to 1,348. Canada's S&P/TSX composite index fell 11 points or 0.1 per cent, to 12,288.
The moves follow the worst one-day selloff this year, striking a contrast with what have been exceptionally tame moves in the first two months of 2012. They also follow a reading on U.S. private sector employment in February from ADP, which showed job gains of 216,000 – in line with expectations.
Some of the stocks that were hardest hit on Tuesday showed the biggest gains on Wednesday. Bank of America Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. rose 1.4 per cent each, while General Electric Co. rose 1.3 per cent.
However, energy producers continued to struggle even as the price of crude oil rose above $105 (U.S.) a barrel. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 0.7 per cent and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. fell 0.6 per cent – although this wasn't a sweep: Suncor Energy Inc. rose 0.9 per cent.
Materials producers also lagged. Barrick Gold Corp. fell 0.3 per cent and Teck Resources Ltd. fell 1 per cent.
David Berman