Canada's main stock index was higher on Thursday, helped by gains in financial stocks and a jump in Shaw Communications' shares after the company posted a better than expected profit.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 43.95 points to move into noon hour at 15,301.85
The Canadian dollar surrendered 0.2 cents at 79.32 cents U.S.
Shaw Communications provided the biggest boost to the index with a rise of $2.34, or 9.7%, to $26.38. The telecom services company beat second-quarter profit expectations as wireless subscribers more than doubled from a year ago.
Magna International gained $1.34, or 1.8%, to $77.15, to be among the leaders in the consumer discretionary field.
Among tech stocks, BlackBerry shares gathered 22 cents, or 1.7% to 13.22
Neovasc Inc, Aurora Cannabis and Centric Health were among the most active Canadian stocks by volume. Aurora shares backtracked 15 cents, or 1.5%, to $9.94.
U.S. President Donald Trump amended on Thursday an earlier warning of a quick military strike against Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack on civilians, saying it "could be very soon or not so soon at all".
In the economic picture, lower prices for new homes in Toronto were the main reason for a national price decline in February. Following two consecutive months of no change, new home prices were down 0.2% nationally.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 2.55 points Thursday to 780.26
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with consumer discretionary stocks up 1.8%, and information technology gaining 1.2%, and health-care stocks up 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 0.8%, materials tailed off 0.5%, and utilities fell 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose sharply on Thursday after President Donald Trump clarified his position on a possible missile attack in Syria, while the latest earnings season kicked off.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 296.50 points, or 1.2%, to 24,485.95, with Intel leading the index higher.
The S&P 500 jumped 24.42 points to 2,666.79, as financials gained 1.8%.
The NASDAQ Composite index jumped 80.09 points, or 1.1%, to 7,149.12
Tech stocks helped the indexes rise, as Amazon, Apple and Netflix all traded higher. Banks shares gained as well, with J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs all climbing at least 2%.
Stocks rebounded Thursday as the latest corporate earnings season began. Before the bell, BlackRock posted earnings per share and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations. The asset manager's stock rose 2.4%.
Delta Air Lines reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates, despite rising costs. The company's stock rose 2.8% by noon hour
Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the companies scheduled to report Friday morning.
Investors have high expectations for this earnings season. According to FactSet, S&P 500 earnings are forecast to have grown by 17.1% last quarter. That would be the biggest quarterly earnings growth since the first quarter of 2011, when they rose 19.5%.
In a tweet, Trump said: "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our 'Thank you America?'"
Stocks also added to their gains after Trump reportedly told lawmakers that a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement was close.
In economic news, weekly jobless claims fell by 9,000 last week to 233,000. Import prices, meanwhile, remained unchanged in March.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell sharply, raising yields to 2.82% from Wednesday’s 2.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices folded 34 cents a barrel to $66.48 U.S.
Gold prices slid $19.90 to $1,340.10 U.S. an ounce.
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