The Toronto stock market pushed higher as the financial sector got a boost from the first round of Canadian bank earnings.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 26.59 points to 15,077.40 near midday.
Shares of National Bank were ahead after it reported that its second-quarter profit rose nearly 12 per cent to $404-million. The bank also raised its quarterly dividend to 52 cents per share.
Bank of Montreal also raised its dividend and beat expectations, but its shares didn't fare as well, falling after it posted a profit decline of seven per cent to about $1-billion.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank report results Thursday, followed by Bank of Nova Scotia on Friday.
The loonie gave back 0.32 of a U.S. cent to 80.15 cents, after the Bank of Canada announced it is keeping its key interest rate locked at 0.75 per cent.
U.S. stocks advanced, after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's worst decline in three weeks, amid Tiffany & Co.'s better-than-forecast earnings and a rebound in airlines as investors watched for progress in talks on Greece.
Tiffany jumped 12 per cent after posting quarterly profit that beat estimates. Airlines rose, snapping a five-day losing streak. Apple Inc. gained 1.4 per cent after dropping more than 2 per cent Wednesday. Microsoft Corp. climbed 1.9 per cent. Hormel Foods Corp. advanced after agreeing to buy closely held Applegate Farms LLC. Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. tumbled 22 per cent after its earnings forecast was short of projections.
"You've got a couple company specific moves, but the big picture is just kind of a combination of this Greece headline bouncing off of yesterday's move," said Michael Antonelli, an institutional equity sales trader and managing director at Robert W. Baird & Co. "As tiresome as it is, it's Greece and the Fed. Those are the two things the market is concerned about right now."
The S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent to 2,116.12 in New York, after falling 1 per cent on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 105.93 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 18,147.474. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.8 per cent.
Stocks earlier extended gains after a Greek government official with knowledge of the matter said Greece and its creditors have started crafting a staff level accord to solve its debt crisis. He added that disagreement between creditor institutions remains a problem.
The S&P 500 fell Tuesday as better-than-forecast data and comments by Federal Reserve officials bolstered the case for a rate increase. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumped 16 per cent, only the second move all year to exceed 15 per cent. By comparison, the VIX surpassed that four times in December.
Fed policy makers preparing to raise rates that they've held near zero since December 2008 are working to engineer a smooth tightening and avoid the volatility spurred by the so- called "taper tantrum" that roiled global markets, and sent the VIX soaring more than 50 percent in the late spring of 2013.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Tuesday that policy makers will consider global growth as they begin to raise interest rates, and that they could increase borrowing costs more gradually should the world economy falter.
Oil traded near a one-month low in London on concern record Iraqi exports will boost OPEC supplies.
Iraq plans to raise exports by 26 per cent in June, signaling an escalation of OPEC's strategy to defend market share. Oil also fell as a strengthening dollar reduced the appeal of commodities priced in the U.S. currency. Losses for U.S. benchmark futures were capped on expectations that inventories fell a fourth week.
Crude's recovery from a six-year low has faltered amid speculation that a global glut will persist as rising prices spur U.S. production. Crude stockpiles in the world's largest consumer are still more than 100 million barrels above the five- year average for this time of the year.
"Rising Iraqi exports reinforced the idea that the fundamental picture really hasn't changed," said Gene McGillian, a senior analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. "The dollar continues to add pressure on oil."
Brent for July settlement declined 95 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $62.77 (U.S.) a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract earlier fell to $62.55, the lowest since April 23.
WTI for July delivery dropped 16 cents to $57.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent traded at a premium of $4.90 to WTI.
The U.S. Dollar Index climbed to the highest level in more than one month. The negative correlation between the index and Brent reached -0.72 Tuesday, the strongest since July 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
With files from Bloomberg