Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Wednesday, as energy shares rose tracking crude prices, following the Bank of Canada’s decision to raise interest rates.
The S&P/TSX recovered 69.73 points, soon after the opening bell to 20,799.07.
The Canadian dollar nosed ahead 0.07 cents to 79.18 cents U.S.
British energy services provider Wood Plc said on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its built environment consulting division to Canada’s WSP Global for $1.9 billion, in an effort to raise funds and cut debt.
WSP shares vaulted $7.63, or 5.5%, to $147.25.
National Bank of Canada started coverage on CCL Industries with an “outperform” rating. CCL shares took on 81 cents, or 1.3%, to $61.53.
Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on EQ Inc to “hold” from “speculative buy”. EQ shares closed Tuesday at $1.23.
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Sun Life Financial to $68.00 from $72.00
Sun Life shares tossed aside 17 cents to $61.61.
On the economic calendar, the Markit Purchasing Managers Index for May registered 56.8 in May, up from 56.2 in April.
The central bank this morning increased its target for the overnight rate to 1.5%, with the Bank Rate at 1.75% and the deposit rate at 1.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 2.3 points to 718.68.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, with health-care sicker 1.1%, consumer staples lower 0.8%, and real-estate off 0.7%.
The three gainers were energy, up 1.8%, information technology, better by 0.8%, and industrials ahead 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks pulled back Wednesday amid worries about the health of the economy, as Wall Street turned the page to another month following a volatile May.
The Dow Jones Industrials stepped back 140.94 points, to commence Wednesday and June at 32,849.18.
The S&P 500 dropped 17.14 points to 4,115.01
The NASDAQ Composite lost 12.67 points to 12,068.72.
Fresh data released Wednesday morning showed job openings declined sharply in April.
Also weighing on investor sentiment, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the economy is headed for a “hurricane” and “you better brace yourself.”
On the upside, Salesforce surged more than 12% after the company’s first-quarter results topped expectations.
However, the ride for stock investors was far more turbulent than the month-end results suggest. The S&P 500 briefly dipped into bear market territory last month, trading more than 20% below a record at one point. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is deep in a bear market — down 25.5% from an all-time high.
Traders in May pored over a raft of mixed quarterly results that included some big misses from bellwether names like Walmart.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve at the start of May hiked rates by 50 basis points to quell an inflationary surge not seen in decades.
The first day of June marks the start of the Fed’s plan to reduce its balance sheet, which ballooned to nearly $9 trillion during the COVID pandemic.
Treasury prices crumbled, raising yields to 2.93% from Tuesday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $1.78 to $116.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $2.80 to $1,839.90 U.S. an ounce.