Equities in Toronto climbed on Wednesday, driven by investor optimism over a possible easing of tensions in the US-China trade dispute and the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting. Prime Minister Mark Carney met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday for the first time, describing their conversation as productive.
Late Tuesday, Washington announced that US and Chinese officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland over the weekend for discussions that could mark a breakthrough in the trade conflict affecting the global economy. US markets also moved higher as investors kept a close eye on developments in trade talks. The Fed left its key interest rate unchanged again, keeping the benchmark short-term rate at a range of 4.25 per cent to 4.5 per cent for a third straight meeting.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.27 cents US compared to 72.63 cents US on Tuesday.
US crude futures traded US$1.02 lower at US$58.07 a barrel, and the Brent contract lost US$1.05 to US$61.10 a barrel.
The price of gold was down US$47.23 to US$3,368.54.
In world markets, the Nikkei was down 51.03 points to ¥36,779.66, the Hang Seng was up 29.17 points to HK$22,691.88, the FTSE was down 38.09 points to ₤8,559.33, and the DAX was down 133.69 points to €23,115.96.
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