Investing.com — Canada's main stock index, the S&P/TSX Composite rallied on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street higher after prepared comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell provided assurance that interest rate cuts were coming this year.
The commodity heavy TSX also gained support from miners as spot gold prices touched a new all time high.
The Bank of Canada meanwhile kept its key overnight rate steady at 5%, as had been widely expected. However, the BoC's messaging lacked the dovish tilt markets had been hoping for, leading traders to further push back rate cut expectations from June to July.
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Enbridge (TSX:ENB) announced an investment of roughly $500 million to expand its pipeline and storage assets in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Enbridge also raised its profit growth forecast between 7% and 9% through 2026.
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In Canadian Economics
The BoC kept its key overnight rate steady at 5% as expected, but struck a hawkish note, stressing that core inflation measures remained too high, and that there was no calendar on rate cuts yet.
"It would be great if this (high rates) worked faster. It would be great if it was less painful. But unfortunately, monetary policy, it does work slowly," BoC Governor Tiff Macklem said at the press conference following the announcement.
The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 53.9 from 56.5 in January, posting its lowest level since October. The Index measures domestic economic activity as indicated by a panel of Canadian purchasing managers. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.
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All currencies Canadian Dollar unless noted otherwise.