The Canadian market rose to a fresh record high on Wednesday, moving past a high registered about a fortnight ago, as the Federal Reserve hinted at some rate cuts in the coming months.
Higher crude oil and gold prices triggered some strong buying in the resources sectors, contributing significantly to market\'s move up north.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 286.14 points or 1.25% at 23,110.81, after hitting a fresh all-time high at 23,209.68.
The Energy Capped Index surged 3.04%. The Materials Capped Index advanced 2.01%, and the Information Technology Capped Index climbed 2.92%.
Energy stocks Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) and Baytex Energy Corp (BTE.TO) climbed 6.8% and 5.3%, respectively. Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Veren Inc (VRN.TO), MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO) gained 3.5 to 4.1%.
In the Materials index, New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) soared more than 13%. Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) climbed 6.1% and 5.6%, respectively. Lundin Gold (LUG.TO), Capstone Mining (CS.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Ero Copper (ERO.TO) gained 4 to 5%.
Technology stock CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO) climbed 4.6%. The company reported third-quarter net earnings of $440.1 million, up 6.1% year-over-year.
Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) rallied nearly 7%. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) and Bitfarms (BITF.TO) gained 4.2% and 4%, respectively. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Quarterhill (QTRH.TO) and Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) climbed 2 to 3.1%.
On the Canadian economic front, Data from Statistics Canada showed Canada\'s GDP remained unchanged at 0.1% in June.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve left its interest rates unchanged, but signaled a rate cut in September.
The Fed acknowledged \"some further progress\" toward its inflation objective but reiterated officials need \"greater confidence\" inflation is moving sustainably toward 2% before cutting rates.
The Fed said it would continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook and reiterated it would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of its goals.
According to CME Group\'s FedWatch Tool, there is currently a 93.5% chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in September.