Stocks gain moderately as oil, commodity prices rise

Also supporting prices, the dollar was softer a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it has made a decision to keep rates unchanged while keeping its monetary policy accommodative.

Traders are likely to keep a close eye on the wording of the Fed’s statement for clues on the possibility of a rate hike later this year.

The S&P/TSX composite index in Toronto was ahead by 25.75 points at 14,521.98, while the loonie dipped 0.01 of a cent at 75.71 cents U.S. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 79 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,297 on Thursday.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 13.20 points at 5,248.23.

In oil markets, USA crude rose 2 percent to $46.31 per barrel as the dollar fell and following a draw in US crude stocks.

The December gold contract jumped 40 cents at $1,318.20 (U.S.) per ounce and December copper was up a penny at $2.17 a pound.

The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at the November meeting due to the subsequent president election, but many analysts are targeting the December meeting for a rate hike.

While the Fed said the risks to economic outlook were roughly “balanced”, it left rates unchanged as inflation continued to run below its 2-per-cent target and members saw room for improvement in the labor market.

The Fed strongly signaled it could still tighten monetary policy by the end of this year, while three dissenters said they favored raising rates this week. The underlying benchmark surged 1.1 percent yesterday, the most on a Fed day since December. He also said the jobless claims number may be constructive for stocks on the stock market. Murphy Oil and Transocean both rose 5 percent.

US equities rallied after the decision, with the three major indexes closing about 1 percent higher.

One of the most influential weights on the index was Encana Corp, which fell 6 percent to C$12.25 after the natural gas producer said late on Monday that it will issue 107 million new shares to raise just more than $1 billion.

Its shares rose 0.4 per cent to $22.81.

ENERGIZED: Energy companies were among the biggest gainers in early trading as oil prices rose.

Existing home sales for August fell 0.9 percent, while economists expected an increase of 1.3 percent.

The value of Canadian wholesale trade rose in July for the fourth consecutive month, posting a 0.3 percent gain on strength in the motor vehicle and parts subsector, Statistics Canada said.

Another supportive factor was an oil workers’ strike in Norway, which threatened to cut North Sea crude output.