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Oil Propels TSX Higher
Stocks in Toronto rose in early trade on Wednesday, with energy stocks gaining as U.S. crude prices hit highs last seen in July 2015.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 40.74 points to begin Wednesday trading at 16,117.39
The Canadian dollar tacked on 0.2 cents to 78.48 cents U.S.
TransCanada Corp has told some customers that it will cut deliveries by 85 percent or more on its 590,000-barrel-per-day Keystone crude pipeline through to the end of November, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
TransCanada shares listed lower 96 cents, or 1.5%, to $63.29.
The United States, Mexico and Canada failed to resolve any major differences in a fifth round of talks to rework the NAFTA trade deal, drawing a swift complaint from the Trump administration on Tuesday that the lack of progress could doom the process.
The federal government proposed on Tuesday mandatory health warnings and child-proof packaging as well as a licensing regime for all cannabis products in legislation ahead of the July 2018 legalization of recreational marijuana.
Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on BRP Inc. to $51.00 from $50.00. BRP shares, which trade under the symbol DOO, lost four cents to $45.99.
CIBC cut the price target on George Weston Ltd. to $119.00 from $123.00. Weston shares attached eight cents to $110.84.
Credit Suisse raised the price target on Pan American Silver to $25.00 from $24.00. Pan American shares galloped 57 cents, or 2.9%, to $20.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.68 points to begin Wednesday at 792.87
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green in the first hour, with health-care mightier by 1.4%, energy jumping 1.1%, and utilities perking 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by information technology, down 0.7%, telecoms, off 0.6%, and industrials, sliding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were somewhat mixed on Wednesday as Wall Street looked ahead to the release of a summary from the Federal Reserve's meeting earlier this month.
The Dow Jones industrial average had given back 23.93 points after the first hour to 23,566.90, with Boeing declining 0.8% to lead decliners.
The S&P 500 slid 0.85 points to 2,598.18, with real estate and consumer staples as the worst-performing sectors. HP Enterprise was the worst-performing stock in the index.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 5.86 points on top of Tuesday’s all-time high, to 6,868.34
Losses in the major stock indexes were muted as key companies reported stronger-than-expected earnings. Tractor maker Deere reported quarterly earnings and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations. The company's stock jumped 3.1%. Deere also issued strong earnings guidance for the coming fiscal year.
HP Enterprise on Tuesday also reported better-than-expected sales and earnings, but its stock fell more than 8% after CEO Meg Whitman announced she will step down from her role early next year.
Salesforce and Gamestop's earnings also topped analyst expectations.
Overall, this earnings season has been solid. With 97.8% of the S&P 500 having reported, calendar third-quarter earnings are up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis, according to FactSet. Also, about 74% of companies have posted earnings that have surpassed expectations.
Investors will be looking for clues about whether the central bank will raise rates next month in the Fed minutes, a move which is widely expected. Market expectations for a December rate hike are at about 92%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Investors will also look for clues about the Fed's path toward normalizing monetary policy.
The Fed minutes are set to be released at 2 p.m. in New York.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained a small bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.34% from Tuesday’s 2.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved 86 cents a barrel to $57.69 U.S.
Gold prices advanced $7.40 to $1,289.10 U.S. an ounce.
