Equities in Canada’s biggest centre rose sharply on Wednesday, buoyed by cannabis stocks as investors looked ahead to the prospect of a Democrat-controlled Senate in the United States.
The TSX popped 194.91 points, or 1.1%, to pause for lunch Wednesday at 17,877.42.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.12 cents to 78.77 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Canopy Growth, which jumped $4.25, or 12.4%, to $38.47, and Aurora Cannabis, which rose $1.41, or 11.5%, to $13.65.
Lightspeed POS fell $2.87, or 3.4%, the most on the TSX, to $81.49, after TD Securities raised target price to $105.00 from $82.00
The second biggest decliner was Iamgold, down 21 cents, or 4.4%, to $4.60.
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 lagged 0.69 points to 899.16.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground midday Wednesday, with health-care shares higher 7.4%, consumer discretionary issues up 2.5%, and utilities better 2.2%.
The four downward subgroups were weighed mostly gold, down 1.2%, information technology staggered 0.8%, and materials, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose 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 497.92 points, or 1.6%, to pause for lunch Wednesday at 30,889.52, hitting an all-time intraday high
The S&P 500 hiked 41.9 points, or 1.1%, to 3,768.98, and also reached a record
The NASDAQ recovered 42.04 points to 12,861.
United Airlines shares rose 1%. JPMorgan Chase gained 4.4%, and Bank of America shares were up 7%, amid the 10-year yield topping the 1% milestone as higher rates should help their bottom lines.
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.
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.
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 1.04% from Tuesday’s 0.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 79 cents to $50.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $50.00 to $1,904.40 U.S. an ounce.