Canadian Stocks Are Adding To Recent Gains -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is up in early trade Wednesday, adding to the modest gains of the previous two trading sessions. Rising commodity prices are providing a boost to mining and energy stocks this morning. Yesterday's cautious comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen are also contributing to the positive mood among investors this morning.

Markets in Europe are firmly in positive territory Wednesday, after Janet Yellen assured markets that the U.S. central bank would move cautiously on further rate hikes in light of worries about global economic risks and stubbornly low inflation.

Markets in the United States are also positive this morning, but are off their early highs. Markets rallied yesterday after Yellen's speech to the Economic Club of New York. Yellen said she considers it appropriate for the Fed to proceed cautiously in adjusting monetary policy given the risks to the economic outlook.

The speech largely offset a recent uptick in speculation that the Fed will raise interest rates at its next meeting toward the end of April.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 123.12 points or 0.92 percent at 13,549.35.

On Tuesday, the index closed up 36.04 points or 0.27 percent, at 13,426.23. The index scaled an intraday high of 13,443.80 and a low of 13,270.17.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is climbing 2.11 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is rising 2.17 percent and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is up 1.20 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is increasing 1.03 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is advancing 5.60 percent. Sherritt International (S.TO) is higher by 1.22 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is adding 1.89 percent.

The Energy Index is up 1.26 percent. Crude oil prices are up Wednesday morning after the release of U.S. crude inventory data. The U.S. EIA reported that U.S. crude inventories increased 2.3 million barrels last week, which was slightly below expectations.

Yesterday, the industry watcher American Petroleum Institute (API) reported an inventory build of 2.6 million barrels, a bit less than forecast.

Encana (ECA.TO) is climbing 1.31 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is rising 3.07 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is gaining 0.72 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is higher by 0.82 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is advancing 2.38 percent and Pacific Exploration & Production (PRE.TO) is adding 1.45 percent. Enbridge (ENB.TO) is gaining 2.06 percent and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is increasing 0.72 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index is higher by 1.62 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is climbing 6.52 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is gaining 0.90 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is rising 1.70 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is advancing 0.82 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is up 0.10 percent and AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is increasing 2.40 percent. Air Canada (AC.TO) is climbing 1.02 percent and Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is adding 0.76 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.75 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is advancing 0.38 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is gaining 0.82 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is climbing 0.75 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is up 1.05 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is adding 0.74 and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is higher by 0.68 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is climbing 0.54 percent. BlackBerry is higher by 2.63 percent and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is gaining 0.33 percent. Avigilon (AVO.TO) is also rising 2.54 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is gaining 0.40 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is up 0.34 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is adding 0.52 percent. Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is increasing 0.62 percent.

The Gold Index is declining 1.79 percent. Gold prices are down slightly this morning after U.S. private sector employment topped expectations. Investors are looking forward to the release of the U.S. jobs report on Friday.

IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is decreasing 2.08 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is falling 0.33 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is losing 0.23 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is lower by 0.99 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is weakening by 2.66 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is surrendering 2.29 percent. B2Gold (BTO.TO) is declining 1.76 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is down 0.37 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 0.08 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is declining 2.13 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is lower by 0.97 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is losing 0.56 percent.

Dollarama (DOL.TO) announced that it has appointed Neil Rossy as its President and CEO, effective May 1. The company also reported fourth quarter EPS of C$1.00, up from C$0.76 a year ago. The stock is climbing 6.83 percent.

SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC.TO) is up 0.92 percent, after it finalized the sale of its stake in Malta International Airport.

Denison Mines (DML.TO) is rising 4.48 percent. The company announced the execution of a Definitive Share Purchase Agreement with GoviEx Uranium Inc. to combine their respective African uranium mineral interests.

Cequence Energy Ltd. (CQE.TO) abruptly replaced its chief executive and dismissed two of its vice-presidents. The stock is sinking 27.55 percent.

On the economic front, Chinese consumer confidence improved strongly to its highest level in six months in March, results of a survey by the Deutsche Boerse Group's MNI Indicators showed Wednesday. The Westpac MNI consumer sentiment indicator rose 6.1 percent to 118.1 in March from 111.3 in February, to its highest level since September 2015.

Eurozone economic sentiment fell to its lowest level in more than a year in March, despite additional easing measures taken by the European Central Bank to tackle the deflation treat and stimulate growth. The economic sentiment index dropped to 103 from a revised 103.9 in February, survey results from the European Commission showed Wednesday. The third consecutive fall took the index to its lowest level since February 2015, when the score was 102.2. Economists had forecast the index to remain at February's original score of 103.8.

Germany's consumer prices rose at a faster-than-expected pace in March after remaining unchanged in the previous month, preliminary estimates from Destatis revealed Wednesday. The consumer price index climbed 0.3 percent year-on-year following no change in February. Economists had forecast 0.1 percent rise.

Partly reflecting strong job growth in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. private sector job growth in the month of March.

ADP said private sector employment increased by 200,000 jobs in March after jumping by a downwardly revised 205,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected employment to climb by about 195,000 jobs compared to the addition of 214,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for April delivery are up 1.29 or 3.37 percent at $39.57 a barrel.

Natural gas for April is up 0.008 or 0.40 percent at $1.989 per million btu.

Gold futures for April are down $1.20 or 0.10 percent at $1,236.30 an ounce.

Silver for May is up $0.147 or 0.97 percent at $15.38 an ounce.