Canadian equities retreated on Wednesday, slipping from Tuesday’s record close as Allied Gold (TSX:AAUC, NYSE:AAUC) shares fell nearly 18.64 per cent after a planned $5.5 billion sale to a Chinese buyer collapsed. Investors also adopted a wait-and-see approach following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement. The Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth time at 3.5 per cent to 3.75 per cent, despite high inflation and a spike in energy prices thanks to the Iran war.
Crude oil prices extended their rally after President Donald Trump said the US would strike Iran “hard” in response to the surprise attacks (where have you heard that before?). Crude prices surged.
| TSX | 35,333.78 | -415.92 |  |
| TSXV | 858.56 | -8.50 | |
| CSE | 148.74 | -2.59 | |
| DJIA | 51,594.14 | -1,153.18 | |
| NASDAQ | 24,442.94 | -433.97 | |
| S&P 500 | 7,316.15 | -112.63 | |
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.15 cents US compared to 70.86 cents US on Tuesday.
US crude futures traded US$5.45 higher at US$84.71 a barrel, and the Brent contract rose US$6.60 to US$90.69 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$15.64 to US$4,055.11.
In world markets, the Nikkei was down 930.73 points to ¥61,434.19, the Hang Seng was up 497.07 points to HK$25,807.92, the FTSE was up 37.39 points to ₤10,908.41, but the DAX was down 3.53 points to €25,460.48.