Canada’s main stock index rose Wednesday with strength in health care and energy stocks.
Toronto’s S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 13.31 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 16,149.97.
Investors shrugged off data that showed a fall in February home prices for the fifth straight month.
Health care stocks were the biggest gainers, up 2.5 per cent. Boosting the sector was Aurora Cannabis Inc., which surged 13 per cent, after naming billionaire investor Nelson Peltz as a strategic adviser.
The energy sector edged up 1.4 per cent on the back of higher oil prices. U.S. crude oil futures settled 2.4 per cent higher at US$58.26 a barrel.
Gran Tierra was up 6.5 per cent, Crescent Point was up 4.6 per cent and Baytex Energy gained 3.5 per cent.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners, was down 0.3 per cent, despite a rise in gold prices, which gained as uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union drove investors to safe-haven assets.
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, led by gains in healthcare shares, and Boeing shares edged upward even as the United States and Canada grounded the company’s 737 MAX jets after a fatal crash in Ethiopia.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.29 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 25,702.95, the S&P 500 gained 19.43 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 2,810.95, and the Nasdaq Composite added 52.37 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 7,643.41.
Healthcare stocks rose 1.1 per cent
Boeing ended trading up 0.5 per cent despite the new ban from Canada and the U.S. The weekend crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Ethiopia was the second fatal crash involving the a aircraft in months.
Canadian airline stocks slid. Air Canada was off 0.09 per cent, and WestJet fell 1.6 per cent. Air Canada operates 24 of the planes while WestJet has 13 of the aircraft.
Canada’s Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Ottawa would stop 737 MAX 8 and 9 jets from leaving, arriving or flying over Canada, adding to the ban from many other countries around the globe.
Also creating bearishness, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was in no rush to complete a trade deal with China that Washington wants to include structural reforms by Beijing, including how it treats U.S. intellectual property.
“The market took [the comment] to mean a trade deal still isn’t imminent,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
Stocks had risen sharply earlier in the day after inflation data backed the Federal Reserve’s patient stance on future interest rate hikes.
Producer prices barely rose in February, resulting in the smallest annual increase in more than 1-1/2 years, in the latest sign of benign inflation.
“Producer price index is the second key metric for inflation this week which further solidifies the notion that the Fed will not be moving to tighten in any capacity for the foreseeable future,” said Mike Loewengart, vice-president of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial in New York.
The PPI data comes on the heels of tame consumer price index numbers on Tuesday.
The energy sector rose 1 per cent on rising crude prices. Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 0.9 per cent, while Chevron Corp. inched 0.6 per cent higher.
CVS Health Corp. rose 3.5 per cent after Bernstein started coverage of the pharmacy benefit manager with an “outperform” rating.
Reuters