Canadian stocks stay positive as loonie rises

Canada's main stock market in Toronto remained positive on Wednesday as the Canadian dollar went stronger a day after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen brought the U.S. currency back down with her comments on the U.S. economy.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 77.75 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 13,503.98 points. Seven of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were higher.

Energy group was up 0.36 percent, as Enbridge shares rose 2.02 percent to 50.09 Canadian dollars (38.63 U.S. dollars), while oil and gas producer Canadian Natural Resources lost 0.72 percent to 34.66 Canadian dollars.

Gold miners, meanwhile, lost ground. Barrick Gold declined 2.94 percent to 17.82 Canadian dollars and Agnico Eagle Mines declined 2.20 percent to 47.66 Canadian dollars.

The precious metal remains on track for its best quarter in nearly 30 years, up 16.4 percent.

Canadian discount retailer Dollarama advanced 7.46 to 88.91 Canadian dollars after reporting a 25 percent jump in profit and hiking its dividend. The company also said Chief Merchandising Officer Neil Rossy would succeed founder-Chief Executive Larry Rossy, who will continue as executive chairman.

On Wednesday, a senior Bank of Canada official said it is likely to take more than two years for the country's economy to fully adjust to the commodity price shock.

Deputy Governor Lynn Patterson said if oil prices remain flat, a new economic balance will take shape over several years -- one that sees the share of the resources sector shrink to pre-boom levels.

In prepared remarks of her speech in Edmonton, Patterson said by 2020 the commodity sector may only account for only 40 percent of exports, down from 50 percent in 2014.

Patterson also said weaker commodity prices will likely continue to lower incomes and economic growth in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the loonie's gain came despite a slightly down day for oil, which lost two cents to trade at 38.26 U.S. a barrel.

The loonie has been gaining ground for more than 24 hours since Yellen reiterated Tuesday afternoon that the U.S. central bank will only ratchet interest rates higher gradually.

"The U.S. dollar is much weaker this morning as yesterday U.S. Federal Reserve Janet Yellen downplayed the expectation of any immediate interest rate hike," said Michael J Smith, a Toronto currency expert at AFEX, a global non-bank provider of foreign currency services.

After bottoming out at a new 13-year low near 68 U.S. cents earlier this year, the Canadian dollar has quietly staged a mini-rally and is now the best performing major currency in the world since January.

After a strong 2015 for the U.S. dollar, some observers now think the loonie has room to grow, at least in the short term.

"If the greenback remains under pressure from the Yellen comments there is every reason to expect that USD/CAD could again retrace back to our lows near 1.2900 in the next day or two," said Smith.

The Canadian dollar traded higher at 0.7713 U.S. dollar, compared with Tuesday's closing rate of 0.7654 U.S. dollar. Enditem