Positive Finish for TSX

Stocks in Toronto rose broadly on Wednesday, led in part by a surge in Pretium Resources Inc shares. The ...

Stocks in Toronto rose broadly on Wednesday, led in part by a surge in Pretium Resources Inc shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index held onto gains of 30.04 points to close Wednesday at 15,800.40

The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.39 cents to 80.29 cents U.S.

Pretium, for its part, flew $2.91, or 24%, to $15.04, after the company said its Brucejack mine produced 82,203 ounces of gold in the third quarter.

Elsewhere among materials stocks, Teck Resources advanced 18 cents to $28.31.

In the health-care sector, Wednesday’s champion, Canopy Growth Corporation acquired 76 cents, or 5.9%, to $13.59, while cannabis rival Aphria Inc. gained 24 cents, or 3.2%, to $7.84.

Shopify Inc shares recouped some of its recent losses, rising $2.87, or 2.5%, to $118.63, to contribute to an overall gain in the tech sector. Constellation Software climbed $1.95 to $719.68.

In real-estate, Brookfield Asset Management took on 14 cents to $53.00.

In the consumer discretionary sector, Magna International let go of 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $68.27.

In the energy sector, Ballard Power Systems sank 16 cents, or 2.4%, to $6.55, while Suncor Energy lost 25 cents to $42.99.

Bombardier Inc rose 10 cents, or 4.4% at $2.35, with the overall industrials group up. Delta Air Lines chief executive said on Wednesday no U.S.-made jets competed with Bombardier's CSeries plane.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange tailed off 2.13 points to finish Wednesday at 791.32.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were still positive, as health-care vaulted 0.9%, information technology gained 0.5%, and real-estate picked up 0.4%.

The two laggards were consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.2%, and energy, off 0.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve released a summary from its previous meeting that showed it believes the economy is strong enough to withstand another rate hike in December.

The Dow Jones Industrials gained 42.21 points to 22,837.87, yet another all-time high, with Johnson & Johnson contributing the most to the gains.

The S&P 500 gained 4.6 points to another all-time peak of 2,555.24, with real-estate leading advancers.

The NASDAQ added 16.3 points to improve on Tuesday’s record high to 6,603.55

Wall Street also looked to corporate news on Wednesday, as earnings season picked up steam. BlackRock and Delta Air Lines both reported quarterly results that beat expectations.

Other companies scheduled to report this week include big banks like Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

The minutes showed that a December interest-rate hike is all but certain despite low inflation levels. Most market participants were already expecting a rate hike in December.

Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note lost ground a bit, raising yields to Tuesday’s 2.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices picked up 39 cents a barrel to $51.31 U.S.

Gold prices gained $1.50 to $1,295.30 U.S. an ounce