Toronto stocks hit record high after US rate cut
Updated at 10:46 a.m. ET/ 1446 GMT
By Nikhil Sharma
Sept 19 (Reuters) -Canada's main stock index climbed to a record high on Thursday, boosted by technology stocks, as investors cheered an outsized interest-rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 210.38 points, or 0.89%, at 23,802.98.
Investors world over reacted positively to the U.S. central bank's 50-basis-point rate cut after keeping policy rates at an over two-decade high for over a year.
Policymakers also projected another reduction of half-a-percentage point by the end of this year. Analysts believe the policy easing could help the U.S. economy achieve a soft landing scenario.
The rate cut is "indicative of the Fed lending support to the economy in the hopes of engineering a soft landing and investors are buying that narrative and are bidding up stocks," said Brian Madden, chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel.
Investors also assessed U.S. weekly jobless claims data, which dropped to a four-month low last week, pointing to solid job growth in September and continued economic expansion in the third quarter.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd <IVN.TO>, Lundin Mining Corp LUN.TO and Hudbay Minerals Inc HBM.TO were up between 4-6% and were among the top gainers on the composite index. The TSX is up 13.3% this year.
At least eight sectors on the index logged gains, with four sectors rising over 1%.
Canada's information technology .SPTTTK sector was the biggest gainer among sectoral indexes with a 2.4% jump, supported by 5.2% surge in Bitfarms BITF.TO.
The heavyweight energy sector .SPTTEN rose 1.5% as it tracked crude prices that benefited from the Fed rate cut. Crude oil and gold are among Canada's top exports.
In oil markets, the West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 rose 1.1%, while Brent crude LCOc1 rose 1.1% O/R. Gold prices XAU= rose 0.9%.
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo
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