Equities in Toronto forged higher on Wednesday in volatile trading, as investors remained cautious amid renewed global restrictions to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, with pot producers leading the losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite moved ahead 50.14 points, to approach noon EST Wednesday at 20,975.01.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.49 cents at 77.88 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks had a rough go of it Wednesday morning, weighed by pot producers Canopy Growth, which fell 23 cents, or 1.8%, to $12.25, Cronos Group, letting go of seven cents, or 1.3%, to $5.47, and Aurora Cannabis, down two cents to $7.70.
Limiting further losses, however, were technology stocks with a $6.03 jump, or 14.6%, in Dye & Durham stock, to $47.65, after the IT service provider said on Tuesday it will acquire Australia-listed Link Administration Holdings for about $3.2 billion.
Meantime, Blackberry fell 58 cents, or 4.9%, to $11.37, despite the cybersecurity company beating estimates for the third-quarter revenue.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked higher 0.48 points to 909.94.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green by noon, with energy and real-estate each stronger by 0.4%, and financials better 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, slumping 0.6%, consumer staples, down 0.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, rallying for a second day as the market continued to rebound from a three-day losing streak spurred by fears about the omicron COVID variant.
The Dow Jones Industrials grabbed 185.18 points to break for lunch Wednesday at 35,677.88
The S&P 500 index gained 35.53 points to 4,687.76,
The NASDAQ vaulted 138.4 points at 15,479.49.
Trading is expected to be thin for the remainder of the week ahead of the holidays.
Caterpillar rose 1.5% after Bernstein upgraded the stock, saying the machinery maker will be a key beneficiary of a rebound in global growth.
Tesla shares gained 3% after Elon Musk said in a podcast that he had reached his goal of selling 10% of his shares for tax reasons.
December, normally the calmest month for markets, has so far been the most volatile month of 2021, according to Bespoke Investment Group that looked at the S&P 500’s average absolute daily change since 1953.
Prices for 10-year were slightly higher, dropping yields to 1.46% from Tuesday’s 1.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 63 cents to $71.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $10.70 to $1,799.40 U.S. an ounce.