Dec 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose about 2% on Wednesday to a ten-month closing high in a broad-based rally as investors embraced risk on bets after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.
At 4:10 p.m. provisional close, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 395.61 points, or 1.96%, at 20,629.45, its highest close since Feb. 3. The strong gains mirrored the rally on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its first record high since January 2022.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signaled in new economic projections that the historic tightening of U.S. monetary policy engineered over the last two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.
"The markets are cheering the Fed's decision," said Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Baskin Wealth Management.
"The initial headline of no rate increase was well understood by the markets but the commentary in the presser that he (Fed Chair Jerome Powell) gave got markets excited and the commentary is that pretty much they know they need to act on interest rates well before inflation looks like it's going to reach the 2% level."
The real estate and the utilities sectors, which underperformed in an era of higher interest, were the top performers on the TSX.
Among individual stocks, Bank of Nova Scotia added 1.1% after Canada's No. 4 lender unveiled plans to focus more at home and Mexico in CEO Scott Thomson's first shareholder meeting.
H&R Real Estate Investment Trust jumped nearly 10% after announcing the sale of Toronto waterfront property, 25 Dockside Drive, for C$232.5 million.
Vermilion Energy gained 6.2% buoyed by 2024 budget which included plans to boost dividend by 20%.
Transcontinental gained 3.5% after the packaging company reported a rise in fourth-quarter adjusted profit per share. (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Shweta Agarwal and Alistair Bell)
