Canada’s main stock index extended its gains on Wednesday, led by mining shares, as gold prices rose due to safe-haven demand in light of the escalating U.S.-China trade war.
The TSX jumped 188.02 points to move into Wednesday afternoon at 25,467.37.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.26 cents at 70.01 cents U.S.
In corporate news, ATS Corp reported third-quarter revenue above estimates. ATS shares popped $3.24, or 8.5%, to $41.43.
Healthcare shares soared 3%, driven by an jump of 15 cents, or 10.3%, in cannabis firm Tilray Brands, to $1.60.
Among individual stocks, FirstService shares slid $10.81, or 4.2% to $249.76, after the property management provider reported fourth-quarter profit below estimates.
SSR Mining jumped $1.59, or 13.6% to the top of the TSX at$13.31, after RBC upgraded it to ‘sector perform’ from ‘underperform’.
Macroeconomically speaking, international merchandise trade figures for December rolled out from Statistics Canada.
In December, Canada’s merchandise exports increased 4.9% and imports were up 2.3%. As a result, Canada’s merchandise trade balance with the world went from a deficit of $986 million in November to a surplus of $708 million in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 2.51 points to 639.08.
All 12 subgroups had advanced by noon EST
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved higher on Wednesday in choppy trading as investors shrugged off a revenue miss from Alphabet
Shares in the Dow Jones Industrials regained 115.88 points to 44,641.92.
The much-broader index recovered 6.56 points to 6,044.44
The tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 10.03 points to 19,643.99.
Alphabet shares tumbled 8% after the Google-parent posted a cloud revenue miss as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence, spooking investors who worried the megacap tech company will take longer to capitalize on its AI ambitions. Overall revenue for the period also came up short.
AMD shares were also lower by 10% after the company’s fourth-quarter data center revenue came up short of expectations.
Experts pointed to other AI-related names like Nvidia, whose price rose 4%, and Vistra, up more than 1%.
Elsewhere, Apple dropped 1% after Bloomberg News reported that regulators in China were considering launching a formal investigation into the company’s App Store fees and policies.
This comes amid heightened trade tensions between China and the U.S. Over the weekend, the U.S. unveiled a 10% levy on Chinese imports. China then retaliated with tariffs of up to 15% on U.S. goods.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury climbed sharply, lowering yields to 4.43% from Tuesday’s 4.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices decreased $1.48 to $71.22 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold gained $17.10 an ounce to $2,892.90 U.S.
