Equities in Canada’s largest centre rose in midday trading on Thursday, largely on the strength of energy stocks
The S&P/TSX Composite remained buoyant 63.16 points to greet noon at 15,617.2
The Canadian dollar added 0.03 cents at 76.1 cents U.S.
Manulife Financial met its target to achieve earnings of $4 billion in 2016, reporting results which beat market expectations, benefiting from a strong performance in Asia.
Manulife dropped 13 cents to $24.45.
Telus reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit as operating expenses rose and it spent more to attract wireless customers.
Telus fell 75 cents, or 1.7%, midday to $43.40.
Thomson Reuters reported a higher quarterly net profit, reflecting a gain on the sale of a business, and said it expected revenue to grow this year at a low single-digit-percentage rate.
Thomson shares fell $2.26, or 3.9%, to $56.49.
Goldman Sachs raised the target price on Detour Gold to $24.00 from $22.00. Detour shares faded 30 cents, or 1.5%, noon hour, to $19.68.
CIBC raised the price target on Northland Power to $27.00 from $25.75. Northland shares recovered three cents to $24.48
CIBC raised the price target on TransCanada Corp. to $68.00 from $66.00. TransCanada shares maintained gains of 14 cents to $61.95.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada’s new house pricing index edged up 0.1% in December compared with the previous month, largely reflecting price increases in Ontario and Alberta.
The agency says prices have risen at the national level for 21 months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.49 points by noon hour to 824.92
Seven of the 12 subgroups were still higher by lunch hour, with energy chugging along 2.1%, information technology advancing 0.7%, and financials up 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.8%, materials, sliding 1.5%, and telecoms surrendering 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would give an announcement regarding taxes in the next few weeks
The Dow Jones Industrials moved skyward 135.22 points to 20,189.56, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 13.69 points to 2,308.36, with financials rising 1%, hitting a new all-time high.
The NASDAQ added 35.47 points to another all-time record of 5,717.93
The economic calendar was a thin one Thursday, with only two major reports on hand. Weekly jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 234,000, below a consensus estimate of 250,000. Wholesale trade data for December were scheduled for later this morning.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note weakened, raising yields to 2.37% from Wednesday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 75 cents to $53.09 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $4.30 to $1,243.80 U.S. an ounce.
