A weakening U.S. dollar was good news for commodities on Wednesday, which contributed to a third straight gain on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
At the close of trading, the S&P/TSX was ahead by 97.67 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 12,673.31, with materials stocks leading the way.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil gained $1.34 on Wednesday to close at $83.01 US a barrel. Gold set its 15th record price in the past month, advancing $23.80 to $1,370.50 US an ounce, after earlier trading as high as $1,375.50.
The dollar was once again closing in on parity with the U.S. greenback, which hit a five-month low against the loonie on Wednesday. The Canadian currency had advanced 62 basis points to 99.57 cents US in late-afternoon trading.
“The debasement of the U.S. dollar and flow into commodities is lifting all boats in the commodity sector,” Barry Schwartz, a money manager at Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, told Bloomberg. “It’s hard to find a losing investment there whether gold, corn, fertilizer, copper — it’s all doing fantastic, and that’s because people no longer have faith in the U.S. dollar.”
Stock markets in the U.S. also benefited Wednesday from estimate-beating earnings reports from big-name firms such as the tech giant Intel and railway company CSX Corp.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average had gained 76.06 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 11,096.46, while the Nasdaq composite was ahead by 23.31 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 2,441.23.
Major European and Asian markets also gained on Wednesday.
