Canada's main stock index opened higher on Thursday, as energy shares gained after oil prices hit their highest since November 2014.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 59.5 points to open Thursday at 16,167.56
The Canadian dollar tailed off 0.23 cents to 78 cents U.S.
Nutrien said on Thursday it would sell 62.5 million Class A shares in Chilean lithium producer Sociedad Quimica Y Minera (SQM) to Tianqi Lithium Corp for $4.07 billion.
Nutrien shares gave back 18 cents to $66.00.
Enbridge said on Thursday it would bring its independent units and liquids and gas pipeline assets under a single listed entity as part of a move to streamline its corporate structure.
Enbridge shares climbed 49 cents, or 1.2%, to $42.29.
Construction on TransCanada Corp's $4.8-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline will start in early 2019, pending a positive final investment decision on the linked LNG Canada project
TransCanada shares docked 37 cents, or $54.32.
Desjardins raised the price target on Innergex Renewable Energy to $15.50 from $15.25. Innergex gained 18 cents, or 1.4%, to $13.56.
Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on Just Energy Group to hold from buy. Just Energy shares dumped 33 cents, or 6.5%, to $4.74.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $6.1 billion in March, led by acquisitions of money market instruments.
At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $1.9 billion, the first divestment in four months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped one point to 780.50
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with energy soaring 1.9%, industrials stronger 0.8% and consumer staples ahead 0.4%.
The four laggards were health-care, down 0.4%, with telecoms and consumer discretionary stocks sinking 0.1% each.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average traded lower on Thursday after a drop in Cisco Systems and Wal-Mart shares, while the continuing assent of interest rates multiyear highs kept the market on edge.
The Dow gained 23.92 points to 24,792.85, with Cisco down 3.4% and WalMart falling 1.7%. Cisco fell after reporting weaker-than-expected sales for its key services business, while WalMart fell despite reporting better-than-expected earnings.
The S&P 500 added 4.54 points to 2,727
The NASDAQ acquired 6.22 points to 7,404.52
Wall Street also looked to Washington as the U.S. and China kicked off the second round of trade talks. U.S. and Chinese officials have indicated that the gap between the two countries is significant, however.
Tensions between the U.S. and china have increased in recent months as both countries have hit each other with tariffs targeting some of their exports. The U.S. also banned companies from exporting goods to Chinese tech companies ZTE. Those tensions have sparked worries that the two largest world economies could engage each other in a trade war.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 3.1%.
Oil prices gained 38 cents a barrel to $71.87 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $3.30 at $1,288.20 U.S. an ounce.
