The S&P/TSX index was up 196.25 at 13,658.96 points, adding to a 109-point gain on Tuesday.
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The gold and oil sectors were the leading advancers on the TSX, up 5.53 and 5.25 per cent respectively.
December copper prices strengthened two cents to US$2.43 a pound, while December gold fell $4.30 to US$1,103.40 an ounce.
In New York, indexes also continued to move smartly higher as a two-day interest rate meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve got underway.
The Fed is due to announce a decision on Thursday afternoon to either end or extend seven years of near-zero interest rates, potentially relieving markets of months of uncertainty as investors have been trying to predict the timing for a hike.
The loonie was down 0.04 of a USA cent at 75.39 cents US.
Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 139.16 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 16,739.01, the S&P 500 gained 17.13 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 1,995.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 28.72 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 4,889.24. Others contend that the economic slowdown in China, the world’s second-largest economy, and recent turmoil on global equity markets are reason enough to hold off.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 4.2 percent and Crescent Point Energy Corp. rose 1.9 percent as energy stocks jumped 2.3 percent, the most in two weeks. On Tuesday, the Fed issued a disappointing report on USA manufacturing, saying it fell.05 per cent in August, its biggest decline since January 2014 as American manufacturers continue to face a number of headwinds, including a high US dollar.
“After weighing on economic growth during the first half of the year, the manufacturing industry is on track to improve over the remainder of 2015, and should help to lift overall growth”, Dina Ignjatovic, an economist from TD Bank, said in a report.
And Bank of Canada, the country’s central bank, said last week that a firm recovery in the U.S., with particular strength in the sectors of the USA economy, is important for Canadian exports.
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In corporate news, the world’s two biggest brewers could be joining forces after Anheuser-Busch InBev disclosed it has made a takeover approach to SABMiller PLC.
