Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday as heavyweight financial stocks rose ahead of the start of US earnings season and investors weighed comments by US President-elect Donald Trump. Some of the most influential movers on the index were the country's major banks. Royal Bank of Canada rose nearly 1 percent to C$93.89 and Bank of Nova Scotia climbed 0.9 percent to C$77.68, while the financials group rose 0.7 percent.
"There is a lot of optimism in financials with the increase in interest rates and the potential for lower financial regulation," said Youssef Zohny, portfolio manager at StennerZohny Investment Partners of Richardson GMP. The move higher in bond yields since the US election has reduced the value of insurance companies' liabilities and increased net interest margins of banks.
"I think a lot of investors are really waiting for earnings season to kick off in the US on Friday. At this point markets seem to be kind of stuck, waiting for some momentum either way," Zohny said. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 65.26 points, or 0.42 percent, at 15,491.54. On Thursday, it touched its highest since September 2014 at 15,621.40. Plane and train maker Bombardier Inc advanced 4.9 percent to C$2.59 after a consortium in which it has a 30 percent stake won a 1.16 billion euro contract to supply commuter trains for the Paris region.
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