After a substantial boost of more than 12% in the previous session, Canada’s main stock index clocked in with a triple-digit gain on Wednesday, following the news of the government's $82 billion relief package for people and businesses suffering the impact of the coronavirus. Major markets in the US were a little more subdued, with a split close. It seems as if Wall Street is cooling on the recently announced $2 trillion stimulus package, as stock futures swung wildly on Wednesday. The Dow Jones logged more than 2,100 points in the previous session and scored its best day since 1933. The latest data from Johns Hopkins University reported that the US has the third most coronavirus cases of any country in the world at more than 55,200. The 1-month and 3-month Treasury bill yields turned negative.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 568.15 points to 13,139.23, and the TSX Venture Exchange was up 14.92 points to 395.67.
The Canadian dollar traded for 69.88 cents US compared with an average of 69.01 cents US on Tuesday.
Crude oil prices were up $0.68 to $24.69.
The price of gold was down $50.10 to $1,610.10.
In US markets, the Dow was up 495.64 points to 21,200.55, the NASDAQ was down 33.56 points to 7,384.30, and the S&P 500 was up 28.23 points to 2,475.56.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 1,571.18 points to 19,546.63, the Hang Seng was up 896.62 points to 23,527.19, the FTSE was up 252.96 points to 5,688.20, and the DAX was up 176.80 points to 9,874.26.