Futures for equities in Canada’s largest market rose on Wednesday, as oil prices climbed more than 3% on hopes of a working COVID-19 vaccine and a steeper-than-expected fall in U.S. crude stockpile.

The TSX ended Tuesday up 139.51 points Tuesday to 16,615.37.

The Canadian dollar sank 0.21 cents Wednesday at 76.53 cents U.S.

December futures rose 0.8% Wednesday.

Great Canadian Gaming said on Tuesday that Apollo Global Management would acquire the company for about $2.16 billion through funds managed by its affiliates.

CIBC raised the target price on Leon’s Furniture to $21.50 from $17.00

CIBC cut the target price on Morguard Corp. to $175.00 from $195.00

CIBC raised the target price on Osisko Gold Royalties to outperform from neutral.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 7.44 points, or 1%, Tuesday to 728.16.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. equity futures rose on Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial average set to gain for a third day after news of an effective Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine earlier this week sparked hopes of a return to normal economic activity.

Futures for the 30-stock index galloped 217 points, or 0.7%, to 29,520.

Futures for the S&P 500 acquired 28.75 points, or 0.8%, at 3,569.75.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite jumped 139 points, or 1.2%, to 11,757.25.

Tech stocks made their way back upward. Alphabet and Microsoft both traded 1% higher in the pre-market. Apple gained 0.9%. Netflix climbed 0.6%. Facebook and Amazon rose 0.7% each.

Eli Lilly’s antibody drug was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use late Monday. The agency said the drug could be used to treat mild-to-moderate cases of Covid-19 in patients who are older than 12 years old.

The vaccine and antibody drug news comes as the United States once again topped its prior day record of daily new Covid-19 infections, on a seven-day average, while also crossing the bleak milestone of more than 10 million cases nationwide on Monday.

The seven-day average of daily new cases Monday was 108,964, a 37% increase from a week ago, according to an analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

The energy sector is up 17% this week, as oil prices gain on hopes of improving demand. The financial sector has risen about 9% since Monday.

Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rocketed 1.8%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 0.3%.

Oil prices added $1.02 to $42.38 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices toppled $7.50 to $1,868.90.