Slump Could be Nearing End

Equities in #Canada’s largest centre exploded out of the starting blocks Wednesday, powered largely by #resource issues, in anticipation of the rate decision this afternoon by the U.S. #FederalReserve

 

The S&P/TSX showed signs of crawling out of its hole at the opening, gaining 146.51 points to begin Wednesday at 19,695.02.

 

The Canadian dollar recaptured 0.29 cents to 77.27 cents U.S.

 

Manulife Financial says its Asia unit is on track to account for half of the Canadian insurer’s core earnings by 2025, despite economic slowdowns and impact of COVID-19 to its key markets.

 

Manulife shares grabbed 40 cents, or 1.8%, to start the session at $22.31.

 

CIBC raises target price on Advantage Energy to $14.00 from $11.00. Shares in Advantage progressed 23 cents, or 2.3%, to $10.10.

 

CIBC cut the rating on Freehold Royalties to neutral from outperform. Freehold demurred three cents to $15.28.

 

CIBC cut the rating on Guru Organic Energy to neutral from outperform Guru shares ditched 45 cents, or 4.7%, to $9.20.

 

On the economic front, housing starts in Canada jumped by 8% over a month earlier to 287,257 units in May, well above market expectations of 252,600 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

 

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems declined by 8.6% in May.

 

ON BAYSTREET

 

The TSX Venture Exchange reversed and gained 6.03 points to 656.10.

 

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups changed directions and finally gained ground, led by gold, up 2.4%, health-care, haler 1.9%, and materials, improving 1.7%.

 

The two laggards proved to be energy, down 0.2%, while utilities doffed 0.01%.

 

ON WALLSTREET

 

Stocks jumped on Wednesday as investors anxiously awaited potentially aggressive action from the Federal Reserve to tame surging inflation.

 

The Dow Jones Industrials popped 363.79 points, or 1.2%, to 30,726.28.

 

The S&P 500 crawled out of bear market territory, for the time being, at least, gaining 53.44 points, or 1.4%, to 3,788.92.

 

The NASDAQ Composite jumped 190.45 points, or 1.8%, to 11,021.27.

 

All major sectors aside from energy were in the green on Wednesday.

 

Communication services and consumer discretionary led the rally, gaining roughly 2% as technology stocks Tesla, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Alphabet rose. Shares of Boeing took 5%, Goldman Sachs hiked 2.5% and Salesforce jumped 2.6%, bringing the Dow higher.

 

Beaten-up travel names also staged a rebound, with cruise stocks Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line rising about 3%. Shares of airline stocks including Delta and United also rose about 2% each.

 

Treasury prices jumped, lowering yields to 3.38% from Tuesday’s 3.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

 

Oil prices fell back 70 cents to $118.23 U.S. a barrel.

 

Gold prices jumped $12.40 to $1,825.90 U.S. an ounce.

 

 

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