Canada Shares Edge Toward Record As Fed Signals Dovish Tilt

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks climbed for a second day with the benchmark less than 100 points from a record high. The S&P 500 also surged, pushing above 3,000 for the first time, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled an openness to interest rate cuts in the face of continued economic uncertainty.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose about 0.4% to 16,608.35 in Toronto Wednesday morning. The Canadian benchmark is within striking distance of its 16,672.71 intraday high reached on April 23. Energy stocks rallied the most, climbing 1.4%. Consumer staples and materials companies also climbed while health care and industrials fell.

While the Fed appears poised to take a dovish tilt, the Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate on hold at 1.75% at its announcement earlier on Wednesday. While a strong run of economic data has boosted the outlook in Canada, global trade tensions remain persistent, the central bank said.

In other moves:

Stocks

• Gran Tierra Energy soared more than 8.8% after saying it sees production topping 40,000 barrels of oil per day equivalent
• Torex Gold Resources rose 7.6% after posting gold production for the second quarter of 113,600 oz
• Parex Resources was heading for the biggest gain in 2019

Commodities

• Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.75 discount to WTI
• Gold spot price climbed 0.6% to $1,408.80 an ounce

FX/Bonds

• The Canadian dollar rose 0.4% to C$1.30804 per U.S. dollar
• The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.612%

Story Link: Canadian Shares Edge Toward Record After Fed Signals Dovish Tilt

--With assistance from Simran Jagdev.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carolina Wilson in New York City at cwilson166@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net, Steven Frank

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