Toronto Stocks Advance as BOC Holds Rates at 5%, BlackBerry Falls on Convertible Note Offering

By Adriano Marchese

Toronto-listed stocks were slightly higher. The Bank of Canada kept its main interest rate unchanged at 5%, and is considering how long it will need to keep rates at this level to tamp down high inflation.

Most sectors were in green territory Wednesday. Consumer durables led, followed distantly by tech and energy. On the decliners' side, tech services and materials were the most notable.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was 0.31% higher at 21100.31 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 rose by 0.34% to 1272.06.

Toronto-listed shares of BlackBerry were down nearly 19% to 3.89 Canadian dollars ($2.89) after the cybersecurity firm said it would sell $160 million of convertible senior notes in a private offering to repay or buy back its outstanding aggregate principal amount of $150 million.

Other market movers:

MTY Food Group shares were up 2.5% to C$57.08 after it said it has increased its quarterly dividend payment by 12% after a year of strong growth.

Capstone Copper shares were 5.5% higher at C$6.58 after the mid-tier base-metals mining company said production of copper in 2023 was in line with expectations, and it expects output to grow in 2024.

Shares of kneat.com were 6.3% to C$3.53 after the company said it would increase its public offering to $17.4 million from the original $15 million announced late Tuesday.

B2Gold's shares fell by 10% to C$3.62 after the Canadian mining company warned of lower production this year despite a strong finish to 2023 and a rise in construction costs for its Goose project in northern Canada.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2024 12:31 ET (17:31 GMT)

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