Canada’s main stock index received the jolt it needed on Wednesday when the Bank of Canada announced it was reducing its benchmark interest rate to 4.75 per cent, the first cut in more than four years. The news left the financial stocks either in the red or flat. The industrials sector led the TSX’s gainers while mining and tech raced for second place.
U.S. markets advanced as investors assessed weak labour data, which could have a cascading effect on whether the Federal Reserve might move to lower interest rates later in the year. Tech shares rose as NVIDIA Corp. (NDAQ:NVDA; NEO:NVDA) scored a new record high.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.06 cents U.S. compared with 73.11 cents U.S. on Tuesday.
U.S. crude futures traded $0.88 higher at $74.13 a barrel, and the Brent contract added $0.93 to $78.45 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$24.33 to US$2,353.22.
In world markets, the Nikkei was down 347.29 points to 38,490.17, the Hang Seng was down 19.15 points to 18,424.96, the FTSE was up 14.91 points to 8,246.95, and the DAX was up 170.30 points to 18,575.94.
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(Top photo: Bank of Canada)