TSX Ends Marginally Up

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended marginally up on Wednesday, lifted by gains in technology, consumer discretionary and industrials sectors.

Energy stocks declined sharply as oil prices dropped after data showed a surge in crude inventories. Healthcare stocks were among the other notable losers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 24.69 points or 0.12% at 20,015.09, after scaling a low of 19,930.30 and a high of 20,098.47 intraday.

Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) and Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) gained 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) climbed nearly 3%.

Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO), BRP Inc (DOO.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), Metro Inc (MRU.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) gained 1.5 to 2%.

Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO) ended 4% down. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Canadian Utilities (CU.X.TO), Keyera Corp (KEY.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO) ended lower by 2 to 3%.

Data from Statistics Canada showed car registrations in Canada decreased to 148,815 units in April from 150,956 units in March of 2023.

The Federal Reserve today announced its widely expected decision to pause its rate increases.

The Fed said it has decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5 to 5.25%, marking the first time the central bank has left rates unchanged since January 2022.

The Fed noted future interest rate decisions will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments.

However, the central bank's latest projections suggest the Fed plans to resume raising rates later this year, forecasting a rate of 5.6% by the end of 2023.