TSX Surges As Boc Lowers Rate

(MENAFN- Baystreet)
Canada's main stock index kept its win streak alive on Wednesday led by energy and consumer staple shares, as investors cheered the bank of Canada's decision to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point.
The TSX index gained 53.85 points to conclude Wednesday at 25,473.30.
The Canadian dollar subsided 0.12 cents at 69.31 cents U.S.
The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate to 3%, with the Bank Rate at 3.25% and the deposit rate at 2.95%.
In corporate news, consulting services firm CGI reported first-quarter revenue below estimates. CGI shares took on 80 cents to $165.57.
MDA Space fell $2.57, or 9.5%, to $24.53.
In the energy sector, Veren Inc. grabbed 17 cents, or 2.3%, to $7.54, while Precision Drilling added $2.16, or 2.5%, to $88.17.
Consumer staples also made gains, with Metro hiking $3.05, or 3.4%, to $91.61, while Saputo advanced 30 cents, or 1.3%, to $23.95.
In materials, Capstone Mining gained 43 cents, or 5.4%, to $8.41, while First Majestic Silver Mines tacked on 31 cents, or 4%, to $8.02.
Real-estate issues brought the house down, however, as units of Boardwalk REIT fell $1.93, or 3%, $61.69, while Dream Industrial REIT dipped 32 cents, or 2.7%, to $11.75.
In the health-care field, Tilray floundered six cents, or 3.8%, to $1.52, while Bausch Health Companies sagged 18 cents, or 1.6%, to $10.77.
In the utilities sector, Innergex collapsed 32 cents, or 4.3%, to $7.15, while Superior Plus shares gave back 17 cents, or 2.7%, to $6.12.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.16 points to 613.59.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, with energy soaring 1%, consumer staples ahead 0.8%, and materials up 0.7%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by real-estate, sliding 1.5%, health-care, ailing 1.2%, and utilities off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 slid on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in its first policy decision of the year, while Nvidia slipped following a strong session.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished in the red 136.83 points to 44,713.52
The much-broader index faded 28.39 points to 6,039.31.
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 101.26 points to 19,632.32.
Nvidia shares hit their lows of the session, tumbling 5% after Bloomberg News reported Trump administration officials have discussed curbing chip sales of the company to China following the emergence of the DeepSeek AI model. For the week, the AI darling is down more than 14%.
A volley of Big Tech earnings are also due Wednesday afternoon, with Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla issuing their quarterly reports.
The Fed left the federal funds rate in the range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The Fed's post-meeting statement offered a more cautious view towards sticky inflation, providing investors with an explanation behind Wednesday's interest rate pause.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 4.55% from Tuesday's 4.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked 86 cents to $72.91 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold jumped $2.70 an ounce to $2,770.20 U.S.

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