Equities in Canada’s largest centre proved the previous gain on Tuesday was no fluke, piling up positive points Wednesday.
The TSX popped 290.49 points, or 1.2%, to close Wednesday at 25,569.84.
The Canadian dollar pulled ahead 0.12 cents at 69.86 cents U.S.
In corporate news, ATS Corp reported third-quarter revenue above estimates. ATS shares popped $2.83, or 7.4%, to $41.02.
Health-care shares soared 3%, driven by a jump of nine cents, or 6.2%, in cannabis firm Tilray Brands, to $1.54.
Among individual stocks, FirstService shares slid $11.15, or 4.3% to $249.42, 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’.
In tech issues, BlackBerry showed its best self, gaining 64 cents, or 9.7%, to $7.25, while Celestica vaulted $16.59, or 8.8%, to $205.62.
Consumer staples provided drag on the market, with the North West Company falling 82 cents, or 1.7%, to $46.45, while Jamieson Wellness subsided 39 cents, or 1.5%, to $33.08.
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 5.38 points to 641.95.
All but one of the 12 subgroups had advanced on the day, led by information technology and gold, each gaining 2.9%, and materials, better by 1.8%.
Only consumer staples missed the party, losing 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied on Wednesday, pushing the major averages higher for the second day in a row, as investors looked past the trade turmoil that weighed on the market earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials zoomed 317.24 points to 44,873.28. The index’s gains were led by a sharp advance in Nvidia.
Nvidia jumped more than 5% after the server maker Super Micro Computer announced full production availability of its AI data center with Nvidia’s Blackwell platform. Super Micro shares rose around 8% following the announcement.
Amgen also helped the Dow’s advance in the session, as the stock jumped 6% on the heels of its better-than-expected adjusted earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter.
The much-broader index recovered 23.6 points to 6,061.48
The tech-heavy NASDAQ moved north 38.31 points to 19,692/33.
Alphabet shares tumbled 7% after the Google-parent posted a cloud revenue miss as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence, spooking investors who worried the megacap technology 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 6% after the company’s fourth-quarter data center revenue came up short of expectations.
Elsewhere in tech, Apple ended the session marginally lower 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 4.42% from Tuesday’s 4.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices decreased $1.51 to $71.19 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold gained $6.30 an ounce to $2,882.10 U.S.
