Canada’s commodity-heavy main stock index rose sharply on Wednesday, as soaring oil prices drove energy shares higher, while investors digested the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision.
The TSX Composite leaped 172.51 points to Wednesday at 21,177.02.
The Canadian dollar increased 0.28 cents to 78.85 cents U.S.
Canada ratcheted up pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by shutting ports to Russian-owned ships and saying that holdings of all Russian oligarchs and companies in the country were under review.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Aecon Group to sector perform from outperform. Shares in Aecon slumped $1.16, or 6.7%, to $16.15.
CIBC raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $160.00 from $158.00. BMO shares galloped $2.52, or 1.9%, to $147.39.
The Bank of Canada did as expected today, and raised its trendsetting rate a quarter-percentage point to 0.5%, with the Bank Rate at 0.75% and the deposit rate at 0.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 6.52 points to 859.81.
Of the 12 TSX subgroups, eight were positive, led by energy, up 1.5%, financials, richer by 1.3%, and industrials, better by 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.7%, information technology, clicking lower by 1.5%, and gold, duller by 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday despite a continued surge in oil prices surged amid the intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The Dow Jones Industrials shot higher 351.4 points, or 1.1%, to 33,646.35.
The S&P 500 picked up 43.3 points or 1%, to 4,348.06.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite index gained 74.28 points, or 0.6%, to 13,606.74.
Corporate news helped push the market higher. Shares of Ford popped 4.6% after the automaker announced it would split its electric vehicle and legacy production businesses into two separate units. Salesforce rose 1.7% after the software giant beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its fourth quarter.
The move in oil appeared to boost energy stocks, with Exxon and Chevron each rising about 2% in early trading.
Earnings boosted several other stocks in extended trading. Nordstrom spiked by more than 30% on strong earnings while SoFi surged around 10%.
On the downside, First Solar shares tumbled more than 15% after the company misses estimates on revenue and issued disappointing guidance. Citi shed 3.5% after releasing updated financial goals.
Earnings season continues with several tech companies set to report on Wednesday. Okta, Pure Storage and C3 AI will report after the market closes. ChargePoint is also scheduled to report after the bell.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will testify before Congress on Wednesday to give his semi-annual monetary policy update. The central bank chief said that rate hikes are likely to begin this month despite the “highly uncertain” impact of the war in Ukraine, and that the Fed would make progress on but not finalize a plan to reduce its balance sheet.
Markets also were digesting the State of the Union speech from President Joe Biden, who offered little in the way of new policy details while urging support for Ukraine and reiterating many of the goals for his domestic agenda.
Oil prices acquired $5.17 to $108.58.
Gold prices dropped $9.90 to $1,933.90.