TSX MOVES HIGHER AS DOLLAR TAKES HIT

TORONTO • The Toronto stock market pushed ahead on Wednesday, but couldn’t recover the losses from the previous day, as most sectors headed modestly higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved 97.44 points higher at 14,739.20, following a big sell-off on Tuesday prompted by worries about higher interest rates in the U.S.

The Canadian dollar dropped US0.50¢ to US78.36¢, coming off a six-year low of US78.14¢ earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average extended its decline another 27.55 points to 17,635.39 after plunging more than 300 points on Tuesday. Nasdaq slid 9.86 points to 4,849.94 while the S&P 500 index was off 3.92 of a point to 2,040.24.

BMO Capital Markets chief economist Doug Porter said financial markets around the world have been weighing the “powerful move” in the U.S. dollar in recent weeks.

“What’s driving that is the view the Federal Reserve is priming itself to begin raising interest rates at the very time the European Central Bank has embarked on quantitative easing and other banks are either cutting rates or also trying to engage in stimulant measures,” he said.

The U.S. dollar strength has created a ripple effect, adding pressure to gold prices, which ended the session at their lowest level since early November.

The April gold bullion contract was down US$9.40 at US$1,150.70 an ounce, while the May copper contract was down US1.8¢ at US$2.61 a pound.

Aside from pressure from the U.S. currency, the Canadian dollar is also being squeezed by the low price of oil, which has been trading at about US$50 a barrel — down from more than US$100 a barrel last summer.

The April crude oil contract settled US12¢ lower at US$48.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the TSX energy sector rose 1.4%.

Technology stocks were ahead 1.3%, buoyed partly on shares of Constellation Software Inc., which jumped 3.8% to $441.22.

A subsidiary of Constellation Software bought InterAct911 Corp., a computeraided dispatch and records management company primarily for U.S. law enforcement. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

In earnings, Quebecor Inc. says adjusted profits at its continuing media and telecommunications operations rose 3.5% to $50.3 million from a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the results were 41¢, below analyst estimates of 52¢ per share. Quebecor class B shares fell 44¢, or 1.3%, to $33.29.

Air Canada has signed a code-share agreement with Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes that will make it easier for travellers to connect through the two airlines’ networks. The agreement expands an interline agreement that allows travellers to make a single reservation for flights on both airlines. Air Canada shares rose 19¢ to $12.41.