Canada’s main stock index muscled up Wednesday, as losses in financials countered gains in mining shares, while investors awaited key U.S. inflation data due later in the day.
The TSX hiked 111.71 points, to begin mid-week Wednesday at 25,516.85
The Canadian dollar was up 0.04 cents at 71.20 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Brookfield is reportedly planning to drop its plan to take over Spain’s Grifols. Brookfield shares gained $1.09, or 1.3%, to $85.56.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 6.79 points, or 1.1%, to 606.57.
All 12 subgroups were in the green, led by health-care, real-estate and consumer discretionary stocks, each up 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell slightly in light trading on Wednesday as investors took some risk off the table following big November gains.
The Dow Jones Industrials progressed 87.36 points to 44,947.67, putting the blue-chip average on pace for another record close.
The much-broader index subtracted 16.76 points to 6,004.87.
The NASDAQ Composite dumped 150.82 points to 19,024.76, hurt in part by a slide of more than 3% in Nvidia shares.
Still, it’s been a notable week as the Dow and S&P 500 rose to all-time highs. The Dow is now tracking to end the week 1.4% higher, while the S&P 500 is aiming for a hike of 0.6% and NASDAQ Composite is slated for gains of 0.1%.
Investors followed the latest reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, released Wednesday morning. The closely watched inflation gauge rose 0.2% in October and 2.3% on an annualized basis, in line with expectations from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core measure increased 0.3% month over month and 2.8% compared with a year ago, also matching consensus forecasts.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.27% from Tuesday’s 4.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 15 cents to $68.92 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold perked $19.80 an ounce to $2,666.10 U.S.