Equities in Toronto eked out a small rise in morning trade on Thursday, helped by gains for some of the country's biggest banks but weighed down by losses for gold miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stayed 9.84 points above breakeven to greet noon at 15,381.98
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.07 cents to 74.10 cents U.S.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc also added to the positive sentiment, jumping 7.2% to $17.60 after saying it would sell its iNova Pharmaceuticals business for $930 million as part of a debt reduction plan.
ECN Capital Corp gained 3.3% to $3.77 after the commercial financing company said it would buy U.S.-based Service Finance Holdings LLC for $410 million in cash.
Barrick Gold fell 2.3% to $22.65 and Goldcorp lost 2.4% to $18.41. Eldorado Gold fell 4.7% to $4.05 after Greece said it would take the miner to arbitration over a gold mining investment.
Hudbay Minerals was up 3% to $6.87.
Among financials, Toronto-Dominion Bank added 0.8% to $64.77 and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.8% to $77.25.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that buyers of new homes in Canada saw prices rise 0.8% in April, the largest monthly increase since May 2016. Higher prices in Toronto and Vancouver led the gain.
Meantime, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation put housing starts at 214,621 units in May, compared to 213,435 units in April
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 0.82 points to 792.88
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower midday Thursday, as gold collapsed 2.5%, materials were 1.2% weaker, and consumer discretionary stocks lost 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by health-care, climbing 2.4%, financials, 0.8% to the good, and information technology, improving 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mostly higher on Thursday as Wall Street continued its focus on former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey's testimony.
The Dow Jones Industrials opened Thursday up 30.48 points to 21,204.17, with the Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 2.29 points to 2,435.43, with financials rising 1.4% to lead advancers.
The NASDAQ vaulted 14.82 points to 6,312.20, a record intraday high.
Firms such as Cantel Medical, J.M. Smucker, and Vail Resorts are due out with earnings today.
Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday morning. Comey said he kept records of his conversations with President Donald Trump — something he did not do when Barack Obama was president — because he thought Trump might "lie."
Investors were listening closely as they assess how damaging Comey's remarks will be for President Donald Trump and whether he can implement his pro-growth agenda.
The Senate Intelligence Committee released Comey's written testimony on Wednesday, in which Comey said he believed Trump wanted him to "drop" an investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's ties to Russia.
Wall Street also digested news coming from Europe, as the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged. The ECB dropped all references to a future rate cut from its statement but added that it would be ready to extend its quantitative easing (QE) program if needed.
Also in Europe, voters in Britain made their way to the polls for a general election. Prime Minister Theresa May called for the vote in April. Seven weeks ago, May's Conservative party had a seemingly unassailable lead over the left-wing Labour party, but that lead has narrowed significantly since then.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.2% from Wednesday’s 2.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were higher 12 cents to $45.84 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slid $13.70 at $1,279.50 U.S. an ounce.
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