BoC holds, Fed cuts, stocks jump

Wednesday was fed day on both sides of the border. To no one’s surprise, the Bank of Canada held the key lending rate at 2.25% while the U.S. Fed cut America’s by 25 basis points to 3.50-3.75%. Markets reacted by rallying: the S&P by 0.67%, the Nasdaq 0.33%, the Dow 1.05% and the TSX 0.79% to nearly make a record close. The small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 1.32% to a record high of 2,559. The U.S. 10-year yield declined to 4.151%.

Major movers on Wall Street included Warner Bros. Discovery rising another 4.49%, Western Digital 7.32%, and GE Vernova 15.62% after a major share buyback announcement. The ride-sharers tanked: Uber -5.51% and Lyft -6.7%. Industrials and materials rallied the most while utilities were the only negative sector on the Dow. In Toronto, tech, financials and materials were among the seven winning sectors while telcos led the laggards. Lightspeed leapt 6.88%, Barrick Gold 1.92%, Shopify 4.84%, Ivanhoe Mines 4.74% and Bombardier slid 5.93%.

Bitcoin declined US$265 to US$92,400. WTI rose 1.25% to US$60 while silver jumped 1.8% to a  record US$61.69 and gold added US$19 to US$4,227.

📺 Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD-Q) +4.49%

💾 Western Digital (WDC-Q) +7.32%

🔌 GE Vernova (GEV-N) +15.62%

🚘 Uber (UBER-N) -5.51%

🚘 Lyft (LYFT-Q) -6.7%

💾 Lightspeed Commerce Inc (LSPD-T) +6.88%

🥇 Barrick Gold Corp (ABX-N) +1.92%

🛍 Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) +4.84%

⛏ Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (IVN-T) +4.74%

🚂 Bombardier Inc (B) (BBD.B-T) -5.93%