It was a big day for North American markets with gains in the heavyweight sectors.
On Bay Street, Canada’s main stock market was boosted by financials and energy. The energy gains stemmed from higher oil prices while bank shares were up on the back of Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz’s comments on the economy. He said yesterday Canada’s economy was “finally positive” after a sharp fall in oil prices led to a long period of readjustment. The TSX was up 127 points, closing at 15,637.
On Wall Street, Facebook had a huge day, as expected. Shares of the company were up more than nine per cent after it announced a much better than projected quarterly profit yesterday. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds dipped below three per cent as well, giving investors a chance to focus on what’s been a strong earnings season, instead of higher interest rates. The Dow Jones ended the day at 24,322, up 238 points.
In real estate, foreign purchases of homes in Toronto has dropped from 7.2 per cent last May to 2.5 per cent between December and February as the province’s new foreign buyers tax of 15 per cent seems to be having the desired effect.
In after hours trading oil is up 13 cents to $68.18 U.S. per barrel, gold is down $3.90 to $1,318.90 an ounce, and the loonie is down a quarter of a cent to 77.62 cents U.S.
