It was a choppy day for Canada’s main stock index after the Bank of Canada said it was prepared to hike interest rates aggressively to combat surging inflation. The mining, industrials, and energy sectors moved higher on Wednesday, with the latter raking in higher oil prices after E.U. leaders agreed to a partial and phased ban on Russian oil and as China ended its COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai. Canadian manufacturing activity expanded at a faster pace in May with higher output meeting demand and inflation pressures showing some signs of easing.
Enterprise software firm Salesforce nearly 10 per cent higher after it raised its full year adjusted profit outlook and said it did not see any material impact from the uncertain broader economic environment. Aurora Cannabis fell nearly 7 per cent adding to its 69 per cent decline this year, having tumbled 80 per cent since last year.
After data showed strength in factory activity raised concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, U.S. stocks also fell in volatile trade, while Treasury yields were sent higher.
| TSX | 20,713.72 | -15.62 |
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| TSXV | 711.80 | -9.18 |
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| CSE | 319.41 | -5.86 |
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| DJIA | 32,813.23 | -176.89 |
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| NASDAQ | 12,994.46 | -86.93 |
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| S&P 500 | 4,101.23 | -30.92 |
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The Canadian dollar traded for 79.15 cents U.S. compared to 79.07 cents US on Tuesday.
U.S. crude futures traded 1 per cent higher at $115.80 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.1 per cent to $116.90 a barrel.
The price of gold was up 12.11 to $1,848.60.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 178.09 points to 27,457.89 the Hang Seng was down 120.26 points to 21,294.94 the FTSE was down 74.71 points to 7,532.95, and the DAX was down 47.88 points to 14,340.47.