Canada’s main stock index rose on Wednesday, as higher crude prices bolstered energy shares, while investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
At 9:42 a.m. ET (13:42 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 68.07 points, or 0.33%, at 20,973.35.
The energy sector climbed 2.0% as oil prices jumped as the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, spelled out plans to phase out imports of Russian oil, offsetting demand worries in top importer China.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.6%, with B2Gold Corp Barrick Gold up over 2% each following upbeat earnings.
Bucking the trend, healthcare and technology shares fell over 1.2% each. Iamgold Corp down 22.6% was the biggest percentage loser following first quarterly report.
Toronto index falls as commodity-linked stocks weigh
Loblaw Cos Ltd fell 1.6% after the retailer missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue, signaling that pandemic-led demand for groceries and drugs were waning from its peak.
Markets expect the Fed to raise rates by half a percentage point at 18:00 GMT - the most in a single day since 2000 - to curb inflation, and to detail plans to reduce its $8.9 trillion balance sheet.
“The FOMC meeting will dominate the markets today, although given that Fed Chair Powell has already broadcast the likelihood of a 50bps hike being delivered, the event should present few surprises,” said Stuart Cole, head macro economist at Equiti Capital.
“What will be of most interest will be the plans the Fed lays out for its programme of balance-sheet normalisation alongside how it views the economic risks going forward.”
On the economic front, Canada’s trade surplus with the world narrowed to C$2.49 billion ($1.94 billion) in March from February, missing analyst expectations, as both imports and exports surged to record highs, data from Statistics Canada showed.
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