By Ezequiel Minaya 
 

Canadian stocks rallied Wednesday, joining markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia, as fears eased following the U.K. vote to leave the European Union.

Over all, the S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 194.05 points, or 1.4%, to 14036.74. Advancers led decliners by the wide margin of 1,296 to 356. Trading volume was 419.7 million shares, compared with 355.1 million on Tuesday.

The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 Index closed up 10.72 points, or 1.3%, at 816.56.

Investors appeared increasingly convinced that the so-called Brexit vote wouldn't produce the global fallout seen with the financial crisis of 2008 and that any significant aftershocks would largely be contained to the U.K.

"People are starting to take stock that this is more country-specific and is not affecting markets everywhere," said Andrew Sheets, chief cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley. "So far, it doesn't appear to be a big risk to global growth."

Markets are poised to be further buttressed if economic data from the U.S. and China show growth. U.S. consumer spending picked up in May from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

In Canada, energy companies were among the biggest gainers Wednesday, supported by the weaker U.S. dollar and tightening crude stockpiles in the U.S. Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp. rose 8.9%, and Kelt Exploration Ltd. climbed 7%

Gem companies were among the top losers amid the failure of Lucara Diamond Corp. to auction the second-largest diamond ever mined Wednesday night in London. Lucara fell 14.5%, and Dominion Diamond Corp. declined 2.3%. Grocer Empire Co. Ltd. also posted among the leading decliners, dropping 11%.

Among other companies whose shares made notable moves were Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Teck Resources, Lundin Mining and HudBay Minerals.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada's fifth-biggest lender, said it would buy Chicago-based PrivateBancorp Inc., a Chicago-based middle-market commercial bank, for about $3.8 billion in cash and stock, as CIBC looks to expand its reach in North America. CIBC shares fell 2.5%.

Copper prices extended new eight-week gains amid U.S. dollar weakness as markets returned to solid footing. This helped shares of copper producers like Teck Resources Ltd., Lundin Mining Corp. and HudBay Minerals Inc. Each of those stocks rose at least 3.8%.

 

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at Ezequiel.Minaya@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2016 16:46 ET (20:46 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.