Fed decision to begin winding down stimulus boosts North American stock markets

TORONTO –

The U.S. Federal Reserve gave North American stock markets a boost as it announced the economy was strong enough to begin tapering monetary stimulus later this month.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 95.09 points to 21,265.10.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 104.95 points at 36,157.58. The S&P 500 index was up 29.92 points at 4,660.57, while the Nasdaq composite was up 161.98 points at 15,811.58.

The Canadian dollar traded for 80.53 cents US compared with 80.62 cents US on Tuesday.

The December crude oil contract was down US$3.05 at US$80.86 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up 12.8 cents at US$5.67 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$25.50 at US$1,763.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was down 4.5 cents at US$4.32 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2021.