Stock market indices in Toronto gained in morning trading on Thursday, boosted by strong earnings reports from Rogers Communications and Encana Corp and a rebound in some materials stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 30.67 points to move into noon hour at 14,564.24
The Canadian dollar nicked up 0.05 cents to 76.61 cents U.S.
Rogers surged 3.5% to $55.51 after posting better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong wireless and internet subscriber growth.
Encana Corp shares jumped 6.2% to $11.08 after the oil and gas producer reported a surprise quarterly profit.
First Quantum Minerals advanced 5.5% to $10.55, Teck Resources gained 4.5% to $18.03, and Barrick Gold rose 1.9% to $26.50.
Canadian National Railway lost 0.8% to $82.50 after strong gains on Wednesday following its earnings.
Mullen Group, a trucking and logistics company, advanced 9.2% to $15.53 after surprisingly strong earnings prompted several analysts to raise their price targets on the stock.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada revealed that those drawing regular employment insurance totaled 544,900 in May up 4,800, or 0.9%, from the previous month, while wholesale trade rose 1.8% to $55.9 billion in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange took on 8.24 points to 763
Seven of the 13 subgroups gained ground, with gold up 3.5%, materials better by 2.3%, metals and mining climbing 2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by industrials, tumbling 0.7%, consumer staples, worse off 0.6%, and financials, poorer 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks moved lower Thursday as Wall Street kept an eye on mixed earnings and upbeat economic data following a week of record highs for the Dow and S&P.
The Dow Jones Industrials skidded 82.39 points to 18,512.64, with Intel as the biggest laggard, and Caterpillar leading the gainers.
The S&P 500 dropped 7.03 points to 2,165.99, health-care the only sector in the green.
The NASDAQ moved down 12.07 points to 5,077.87, after having its highest close of the year a day earlier.
Quarterly results came in mixed Thursday.
General Motors posted a record second-quarter profit Thursday, sending shares up more than 3%.
Biogen helped boost the Nasdaq and S&P, with the stock up more than 6% after posting positive results.
Intel shares fell more than 3.5% after it beat analysts' expectations for earnings on Wednesday, but posted revenues came in lower than expected. Fellow chipmaker Qualcomm beat Wall Street expectations and issued strong forward guidance, sending shares up nearly 7%
Bank results continued to surprise this week, with Morgan Stanley reporting earnings of 75 cents U.S. per share versus consensus expectations of 59 cents. Morgan Stanley joined Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America on the list of U.S. financial institutions topping second-quarter profit forecasts.
Of the 70 S&P 500 companies reporting as of Wednesday, 67% beat estimates. Starbucks, AT&T, Capital One, Visa, Schlumberger, Boston Beer and Chipotle report after the bell.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a three-month low last week, in a sign that the labour market down south is stabilizing.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 253,000. Economists expected claims to rise to 265,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained lost ground, lowering yields to 1.57% from Wednesday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 82 cents a barrel to $44.93 U.S.
Gold prices strengthened $9.60 to $1,328.90 U.S. an ounce.
