Stocks in Toronto ended flat Thursday as Canadian Natural Resources led a rebound in energy shares after sharp losses the day before, offsetting losses for financial sector shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.14 points – to end Thursday at 15,496.84, after a 100-point-plus skid on Wednesday
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.12 cents at 74.02 cents U.S.
Natural Resources stock sprang up $3.88, or 9.8%, to $43.31, on deals with Shell and its subsidiaries, to acquire 70% of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project. Suncor Energy made its way higher nine cents to $40.55.
Tech stocks were abuzz with BlackBerry better by 15 cents, or 1.7%, to $9.15, while Constellation Software gathered $1.01, or $648.99.
Among industrials, Air Canada got 11 cents worth of lift to $13.21, while Canadian National Railways gained 35 cents to $96.86.
Gold, however, headed south, Goldcorp lost 11 cents to $19.67, while Barrick Gold faded 17 cents to $23.89.
Real-estate stocks such as Brookfield Asset Management docked 16 cents to $48.38.
Among materials, First Quantum Minerals tumbled 49 cents, or 3.5%, to $13.58, while Lundin Mining dropped 24 cents, or 3.1%, to $7.44.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said its new housing price index edged up 0.1% in January from the month before, mostly on the strength of higher prices in Ontario.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.13 points to 788.85
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups had fallen into the red by day’s end, with gold failing 1%, real-estate down 0.9%, and materials off 0.4%
The four gainers were led by energy, up 1.6%, information technology, up 0.7%, and industrial stocks growing 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed flat Thursday as investors got ready for key employment data.
The Dow Jones Industrials retained 2.46 points worth of gains by the end of the session at 20,858.19, with Johnson & Johnson leading advancers and Caterpillar the top decliner.
The S&P 500 gained 1.89 points to 2,364.87, with health care leading five sectors higher and real estate the top decliner.
The NASDAQ added 1.25 points to 5,838.81
The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected. President Mario Draghi said in a news conference that while some sentiment indicators suggest the region's recovery may be gaining steam, "measures of underlying inflation remain low."
Investors also looked ahead to the February non-farm payrolls report scheduled for Friday morning. On Wednesday, ADP and Moody's said private companies added 298,000 jobs last month, shattering estimates. Goldman Sachs and UBS subsequently raised their estimates for Friday's report following ADP's blowout number.
Market expectations for a rate hike next week have skyrocketed in recent weeks amid hawkish Federal Reserve rhetoric and solid economic data. According to experts March rate hike expectations were 91%
On the data front Thursday, initial jobless claims bounced back from 44-year lows, with import prices rising 0.2%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.61% from Wednesday’s 2.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 67 cents to $49.61 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices docked $8.80 to $1,200.60 U.S. an ounce.
