OTTAWA — Canada’s benchmark stock index was posting its first gains in four sessions at midday on Wednesday after a German court threw out legal challenges to that country’s role in eurozone bailouts and ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s scheduled jobs speech on Thursday.
At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up about 137 points, or 1.10 per cent, to 12,656. Two of the three heavyweight sectors helped lead the charge — energy was up 1.76 per cent, and financials up 1.32 per cent — while the materials sector was down 0.03 per cent.
The price of crude oil had gained $2.91 to $88.93 U.S. a barrel in New York, and gold was down $58.30 to $1,815 U.S. an ounce.
The Canadian dollar was up 11 basis points to $1.0114 U.S. after the Bank of Canada kept its key lending rate on hold.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up by about 189 points, or 1.70 per cent, to 11,328 at midday, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 53 points, or 2.13 per cent, to 2,526.
Markets overseas made strong advances on Wednesday. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 2.01 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.71 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE advanced 3.14 per cent, the CAC in Paris gained 3.63 per cent and Frankfurt’s DAX climbed 4.07 per cent.
