TSX Starts out in Green

Equities in Toronto edged higher for the third straight session on Wednesday, helped by gains in financial stocks, as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's verdict on further monetary tightening.

The TSX remained in positive country 57.97 points, to break for lunch Wednesday at 19,712.89.

The Canadian dollar slid 0.04 to 72.91 cents U.S.

Among company news, Africa Oil advanced 14 cents, or 4.8%, to $2.98, after Scotiabank upgraded the oil exploration firm to "outperform" from "sector perform".

Activist investor Engine Capital urged Parkland Corp to look at strategic options, including the sale or spinoff of non-core assets, to become a more focused fuel and convenience retailer, sending its stock higher by $2.61, or 8.9%, to $31.82.

In matters economic, Statistics Canada’s new housing price index declined 0.2% month over month in February, following a similar decrease in January. The index has been down in five of the last six months. In February, prices were down or unchanged in 25 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed and up in two.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.51 points to 606.69.

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher as morning became afternoon, with consumer staples progressing 1.1%, energy and gold, each up 0.8%.

The two laggards proved to be real-estate, sifting off 0.6%, and communications, off 0.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks were flat on Wednesday as Wall Street braced for the Federal Reserve’s first potential rate hike since the recent fallout in the banking sector.

The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 44.82 points to 32,515.78.

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The S&P 500 cleared breakeven 2.01 points to 4,004.88.

The NASDAQ Composite gained 31.63 points to 11,891.74.

Barclays Analyst Adrienne Yih upgraded Nike shares to overweight from equal weight, and raised her price target, saying the strength of Nike’s latest earnings results show the sports apparel retailer is getting back to its long-term targets — despite some weakness in China.

The Fed is slated to conclude its two-day policy meeting Wednesday, with an announcement expected for 2 p.m. ET. Most investors expect the central bank to stay committed to its tightening and raise rates by 25 basis points. As of Wednesday morning, there is about an 90% chance of a quarter-point increase by the Fed. Meanwhile, there’s a roughly 10% probability of there being no hike.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 3.58% from Tuesday’s 3.60%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite
directions.

Oil prices regained 55 cents to $70.22 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices moved forward $6.70 to $1,947.80 U.S. an ounce.