Canada’s main stock index rose in a broad-based rally on Wednesday, as oil prices rebounded from one-year lows boosting energy shares, while higher gold prices aided gains in shares of precious metal miners.
At 11:50 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 312.72 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 15,189.72.
All 11 of Canada’s major sectors were higher, led by the healthcare sector’s 3.4-per-cent gain as marijuana producers jumped.
Canopy Growth Corp. rose 6.8 per cent, while Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Aphria Inc. were both up 3.9 per cent.
The energy sector rose 3.2 per cent as oil prices jumped. Encana Corp. was up 5.9 per cent, while Suncor Energy Inc. increased 3.9 per cent.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners, gained 2.6 per cent as gold further rose on a softer dollar, boosting shares of precious metal miners. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. sat up 7.5 per cent.
Financial stocks jumped 2.1 per cent, led by a 3.3-per-cent rise in Manulife Finanacial Corp. and 2.8-per-cent increase in Royal Bank of Canada.
U.S. stocks recovered from a brutal two-day selloff on Wednesday as strong earnings from Foot Locker and gains in technology stocks lifted investor sentiment ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Foot Locker Inc shares surged 15.4 per cent after the footwear retailer’s quarterly same-store sales trumped expectations and boosted other sports retailers with Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc and Hibbett Sports Inc rising about 3 percent.
Shares of Nike Inc, a Foot Locker supplier, gained 1.6 per cent.
Gap Inc rose 3.5 percent, reversing earlier losses after a number of Wall Street brokerages said the company’s planned closure of underperforming stores could eliminate significant losses.
Both, Foot Locker and Gap helped boost the S&P consumer discretionary index, making it the top gainer among the 11 major S&P indexes.
The pressure on technology stocks appeared to have eased on Wednesday, with the FAANG group — Facebook Inc, Apple Inc. Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc and Alphabet Inc - gaining between 0.2 per cent and 3 per cent.
Autodesk Inc jumped 9.3 per cent after the software company reported third-quarter results ahead of analysts’ estimates and announced an $875 million deal to buy cloud-based software company PlanGrid.
Autodesk was the top gainer in the S&P technology sector , which was up 0.9 per cent after three days of declines.
“Equity markets are finding some footing after two days of steep decline. It’s probably a reaction to over-sold condition,” said Emily Roland, head of capital markets research, John Hancock Investments.
A report by MNI saying that the Fed may pause its rate hiking cycle as early as spring could also be supporting the markets, Roland added.
“Any signs that the Fed is more dovish than the investors have expected is going to be a positive for risk assets.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 107.36 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 24,573.00, the S&P 500 was up 17.74 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 2,659.63 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 79.74 points, or 1.15 per cent, at 6,988.56.
The S&P energy index gained 1.2 percent as oil prices bounced back from a 6-per-cent plunge the previous day.
Worries about slowing global growth and peaking corporate earnings have sapped risk appetite in recent months, throwing into doubt the longevity of the decade-old bull run for stocks.
Nasdaq closed at its lowest level in over seven months on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow erased all their gains for the year.
Latest economic data showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods were unexpectedly unchanged in October and shipments rebounded modestly, which could temper expectations of an acceleration in business spending on equipment early in the fourth quarter.
“This is a sign that the economy is adjusting to higher rates here. The pace of the economic growth is slowing, but the U.S. economy by no means is falling off a cliff here,” said Roland.
Oil prices rose more than 1 per cent on Wednesday, recovering from the lowest levels in months, after U.S. government data showed strong demand for gasoline and diesel, but gains were limited by concern over rising global crude supply.
Brent crude futures rose 51 cents to $63.04 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 96 cents to $54.39 a barrel.
U.S. crude stocks rose 4.9 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. More than expected. Crude inventories have risen for nine straight weeks, the longest streak of increases since March 2017.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., delivery hub for WTI fell 116,000 barrels, the first drop in nine weeks, EIA said.
Gasoline stocks fell 1.3 million barrels to the lowest level since December 2017, while distillate stockpiles dropped by 77,000 barrels, the EIA data showed.
“The report was somewhat bearish due to the large crude oil inventory build, but the drawdown in refined product inventories and the big jump in refinery activity could signal the end of the recent string of mostly bearish reports,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York.
However, Wednesday’s gains did little to reverse overall market weakness. Crude fell more than 6 per cent in the previous session, while world equities tumbled as investors grew concerned about economic growth prospects.
Brent has fallen by more than 25 per cent since reaching a 4-year high of $86.74 on Oct. 3, reflecting concern about forecasts of slowing demand in 2019 and ample supply from Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States.
Worried by the prospect of a new supply glut, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is talking about reducing output just months after increasing production.
OPEC, Russia and other non-OPEC producers are considering a supply cut of between 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and 1.4 million bpd at a Dec. 6 meeting, sources familiar with the issue have said.
Reuters