Toronto markets were buoyed by strength in the industrials sector on Wednesday, as Bombardier shares moved ahead while the financial group fell sharply after TD reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 166.49 points, or 1.15%, at 14,688.62, as seven of the 10 major TSX groups advanced.
The financials group closed up 0.71% after a late-morning earnings report from TD pushed the sector down.
TD Bank Financial Group’s shares gained 26¢, or 0.38%, to close at $68.70, after the bank reported second quarter earnings fell 3%, to $852 million.
Also releasing earnings today, Laurentian Bank stock gained 57¢, or 1.38%, to end at $41.82, after it said second-quarter profit rose 21% to $25.1 million.
Meanwhile, the industrials group was a big gainer, closing up 1.8%. Bombardier Inc. shares led this gain, closing up 24¢, or 3.25%, at $7.63, on a heavy day of trading.
The energy group closed up 1.4%, as the July crude contract closed up US$2.18, or 1.7%, at US$131.03 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Shares in market heavyweight Encana Corp. closed up 65¢, or 0.72%, at $90.87 while Suncor Energy Inc. shares gained 74¢, or 1.09%, to close at $68.89.
The materials group gained 1.8%, as the gold sub-index ended the session up 0.50%.
Gold for June delivery dropped US$7.40 to close at US$900.50 an ounce, while August gold closed down US$7.80, at US$905 an ounce.
Barrick Gold Corp. shares gained 6¢, or 0.15%, to end at $40.34 while Goldcorp. Inc. stock gained 44¢, or 1.10%, to close at $40.46.
Sears Canada Inc. shares closed up $1.70, or 7.23%, to end at $25.20, after it reported comparable-store sales fell 1.9% in Q1. It said net income was $63.1 million, up from $14.3 million in the same period last year.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 2.25 points, or 0.08%, at 2,648.25.
The Canadian dollar closed at US1.0102¢ against the greenback today.
In New York, it was a rollercoaster day for the major indexes as financial stocks weighed on markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.68 points, or 0.36%, at 12,594.03.
The S&P 500 added 5.49 points, or 0.40%, to close at 1390.84.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 5.46 points, or 0.22%, to close at 2,486.70.
In U.S. economic news, orders for durable manufactured goods fell 0.5% in April, beating market expectations, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. Excluding volatile orders, such as transport equipment, orders rose by 2.5% for the month, the biggest gain in nine months.