A lift in oil prices and rising energy stocks equated into an eight consecutive winning day for the TSX.
Canada’s stock exchange rose 70 points, carried by increases in the key energy and financials sectors.
Today’s market movers included Aurora Cannabis, which was up 2.8 percent despite retreating from earlier gains, Canadian Natural Resources, up 2.5 percent, and Husky Energy, which climbed 4.7 percent.
Oil rallied from yesterday’s losses, moving $1.42 higher to $51.93 US a barrel.
The main drivers behind the rally are supply cuts from OPEC producers and Russia, along with a drop in U.S. domestic stockpiles
In New York, both the Dow and the Nasdaq rose on the back of the U.S. tech sector and China vowing to take steps in order to further stimulate its economy in the first quarter.
The Dow jumped 155 points despite slow progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China, and tepid fourth quarter earnings results from financial giant JP Morgan and Chase.
Broad-based gains among U.S. tech companies held the index up, led by a two percent rise in Apple shares.
It was a positive day for the Nasdaq, which jumped 117 points with Netflix leading the way.
Netflix rose 6.5 percent on news of the company hiking its U.S. subscription rates between 13 and 18 percent, depending on the plan. It’s the biggest single increase since Netflix launched its video streaming service a dozen years ago.
Elsewhere, Delta Air Lines’ CEO is saying the U.S. government’s partial shutdown, which now in its 25th day, is costing the company roughly $25 million this month, due to cash-strapped government employees and contractors opting not to fly the friendly skies.
The Canadian dollar was relatively flat, up 8/100ths of a cent to $0.7534 US while gold lost $2.20 to $1,289 an ounce.
