Equities in Canada’s largest market just cleared the breakeven bar at the opening Thursday, with health-care and tech stocks leading the way up.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 9.31 points to begin Thursday at 15,153.30
The Canadian dollar was fairly static at 78.38 cents U.S.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals was at the forefront of the ascent by health-care stocks, triumphing 66 cents, or 3.1%, to $22.20.
Shares in Constellation Software jumped $1.23 to $658.93.
Sears Canada Inc majority shareholders including Edward Lampert, ESL Investments Inc and Fairholme Capital Management LLC are seeking access to internal documents related to its restructuring, according to a notice of motion posted on Wednesday.
Canaccord Genuity starts coverage of Aveda Transportation with a speculative buy rating. Aveda shares were unchanged at 37 cents.
Barclays raised the target price on Sun Life Financial to $53.00 from $52.00. Sun Life shares picked up 21 cents to $46.80.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada said Toronto and Vancouver were largely responsible for a 0.7% monthly rise in new house prices in Canada in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.58 points, or 1.4%, to 758.48
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the early going, as health-care rose 1.1%, information technology clicked 0.5%, and consumer staples bettered themselves 0.2%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by industrials, sliding 0.2%, while gold and telecoms each eased 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities kicked off Thursday trading slightly higher as retailers rose, led by Target.
The Dow Jones Industrials improved 15.23 points on Wednesday’s all-time high to 21,547.37, with Wal-Mart contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 3.34 points to 2,446.59, with Target among the best performers.
The NASDAQ added 16.16 points, or 1.1%, to 6,277.33, as shares of Snap jumped 3%.
Shares of Target climbed 2.7% after the company said it expects "modest increase" in second-quarter comparable-store sales, a metric closely watched by Wall Street for retail stocks. Target added it expects second-quarter earnings to come in above the high end of the forecast. The stock had traded more than 6% higher in the pre-market.
Shares of Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Costco and Macy's rose as well.
Brick-and-mortar retailers have been hit hard this year. In 2017, the XRT has fallen more than 11%. Macy's, meanwhile, has shed approximately 40%.
Wall Street also looked ahead to the start of earnings season. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are set to report Friday morning.
In economic news, the U.S. producer price index rose 0.1% in June. Economists expected the index to remain flat. Weekly jobless claims, meanwhile, came in just above expectations at 247,000.
Wall Street also set its sights on Washington. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was set to testify in front of Congress for the second straight day. Her prepared remarks from Wednesday ignited a rally in the U.S. stock market, which sent the Dow to a record close.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped Thursday, lowering yields to 2.34% from Wednesday’s 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained 26 cents to $45.75 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices ducked lower 30 cents to $1,218.80 U.S. an ounce.
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