Canadian stocks were higher in early trading Wednesday as investors snapped up stocks depressed by the past three days of sell-offs.
After touching a five-year low by close Tuesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s benchmark index, the S&P/TSX composite, was up 158 points at 7,789.6 at 10 a.m. after surging 220.92 points, or 2.89%, at opening. Stronger oil and metal prices led the rally.
Oil rose $2.60 a barrel to US$44.25 a barrel from US$41.65 at Tuesday’s close, on expectations of further cuts to production by OPEC and stronger economic news from China.
Gold was trading at US$917.40 an ounce, up from US$913.60 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar was also up to 77.91 cents US in early Wednesday trading, up from Tuesday’s close of 77.45 cents US.
Toronto-based insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. is reportedly in discussions to buy most of the distressed life insurance unit of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., as the Connecticut-based company continues to take losses tied to equity markets, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.
Job numbers in the United States continued their steep decline, as the ADP employment report showed 697,000 more jobs were lost in February, following the revised January decline of 614,000.
“This is the largest decline in the goods-producing sector (338,000) since the data series began in 2001. Further, manufacturing jobs continue to be lost at a blistering pace, with 219,000 lost in February — an all-time high for this industry,” said Ian Pollick economics strategist at TD Securities.
Planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell 23% to 186,350 jobs in February from January’s seven-year peak of 241,749, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Wednesday. However, numbers remained well above long-term averages, the report noted.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 104.2 points, or 1.54%, to 6,830 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 21.27 points, or 1.61%, to 1,342.28.
Overseas markets were also up Wednesday. London’s FTSE 100 index was up 49.66 points, or 1.41%, to 3,561.75 at midday. Frankfurt’s DAX was up 94.12 points, or 2.55%, to 3,785.43 and the Paris CAC was up 47.44 points, or 1.86%, to 2,601.99.
Tokyo’s Nikkei stock average closed up 61.24 points, or 0.85%, to 7,290.96 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 297.24 points, or 2.47%, to 12,331.15.
On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX lost 5.89 points, or 0.73%, to 7,631.62, its lowest level since October 2003. The Dow Jones dropped 37.27 points, or 0.55%, to 6,726.02 and the Nasdaq lost 1.84 points, or 0.14%, to 1,321.01.
