National Business

TORONTO — Canada's main stock index eked out a small gain Wednesday as broad-based gains led by utility and technology stocks outweighed losses in energy and battery metals, while U.S. markets rose, led by technology.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed higher as the bond market loosened its vise on the stock market. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Wednesday, coming off a 1.4% tumble that sent it to its lowest level in four months.

WASHINGTON (AP) — “THIS IS A TEST": If you have a cellphone or were watching television Wednesday, you should have seen that message flash across your screen as the federal government tested its emergency alert system used to tell people about emerge

WestJet plans to halt flights between Toronto and Montreal for the winter in a continuation of its retreat from short-haul routes in Eastern Canada to retrench in the West.

VANCOUVER — The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says a jump in new listings is helping to bring some balance back to the region's housing market. The board says September sales totalled 1,926, a 13.

MONTREAL — BRP Inc. said it disagrees with findings from Quebec’s workplace health and safety board that the snowmobile maker broke the law in underpaying workers it brought in to work at its plant in Quebec from a facility in Mexico.

TORONTO — Barrick Gold Corp. says it will spend almost US$2 billion on an expansion project at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia.

CALGARY — Keyera Corp. is marking the opening of its KAPS pipeline, a 575-kilometre pipeline in Alberta which will provide additional transportation capacity to natural gas producers in Western Canada.

MONTREAL — A French airline caterer is denying that it knowingly employed undocumented workers at its Montreal facilities or that it used their precarious status to exploit them.

TORONTO — The new vehicle market remained hot in September, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc., with vehicle sales jumping 19 per cent in the month on an annualized basis.