Equities in Canada’s largest market spread their wings much of Thursday, buoyed by strength among health-care and financial issues, overcoming losses in the gold patch.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 50.95 points to finish Thursday at 15,423.09
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.02 cents to 74.05 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks, primarily, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, added to the positive sentiment, jumping 7.2% to $17.60 after saying it would sell its iNova Pharmaceuticals business for $930 million as part of a debt reduction plan.
Valeant climbed $1.49, or 9.1%, to finish the day at $17.91. Rival Theratechnologies jumped 10 cents, or 1.3%, to $7.69.
ECN Capital Corp gained 11 cents, or 3% to $3.76 after the commercial financing company said it would buy U.S.-based Service Finance Holdings LLC for $410 million in cash. Elsewhere among financials, Scotiabank leaped $1.21, or 1.6%, to $77.85.
Techs fared well as well, as BlackBerry improved 19 cents, or 1.3%, to $15.09, while Constellation Software gained $5.35 to $705.63.
Barrick Gold fell 34 cents, or 1.5% to $22.45 and Goldcorp lost 38 cents, or 2% to $18.48. Eldorado Gold fell 40 cents, or 9.4% to $3.85 after Greece said it would take the miner to arbitration over a gold mining investment.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Aimia lost eight cents, or 3.6%, to $2.14, while Restaurant Brands Int’l fell $1.67, or 2.1%, to $79.00.
In the materials sector, First Majestic Silver demurred 22 cents, or 1.9%, to $11.56.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that buyers of new homes in Canada saw prices rise 0.8% in April, the largest monthly increase since May 2016. Higher prices in Toronto and Vancouver led the gain.
Meantime, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation put housing starts at 214,621 units in May, compared to 213,435 units in April
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 1.57 points to 791.31
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the day, as gold dropped 1.8%, consumer discretionary stocks lost 0.7%, and materials weakened 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, climbing 2.8%, financials, richer by 1%, and information technology, improving 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed mostly higher on Thursday as Wall Street digested former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey's testimony.
The Dow Jones Industrials acquired 8.91 points to 21,182.60, with UnitedHealth contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 nicked ahead 0.64 points to 2,433.78, with utilities leading decliners while higher bank stocks capped losses. Bank stocks, some of the early beneficiaries from Trump's election, rose on Thursday
The NASDAQ vaulted 24.38 points to 6,321.76, hit an all-time intraday high.
Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday morning. Comey said he kept records of his conversations with President Donald Trump — something he did not do when Barack Obama was president — because he thought Trump might "lie."
Investors were listening closely as they assess how damaging Comey's remarks will be for President Donald Trump and whether he can implement his pro-growth agenda.
The Senate Intelligence Committee released Comey's written testimony on Wednesday, in which Comey said he believed Trump wanted him to "drop" an investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's ties to Russia.
Wall Street also digested news coming from Europe, as the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged. The ECB dropped all references to a future rate cut from its statement but added that it would be ready to extend its quantitative easing (QE) program if needed.
Also in Europe, voters in Britain made their way to the polls for a general election. Prime Minister Theresa May called for the vote in April. Seven weeks ago, May's Conservative party had a seemingly unassailable lead over the left-wing Labour party, but that lead has narrowed significantly since then. (Polls in the U.K. are set to close at 6 p.m. EDT)
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to 2.2% from Wednesday’s 2.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were lower 12 cents to $45.60 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slid $13.00 at $1,280.20 U.S. an ounce.
