Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, gaining for the 10th straight session, led by the energy sector as oil prices hit $80 a barrel for the first time since November 2014.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 59.68 points by midday Thursday at 16,167.74
The Canadian dollar deducted 0.17 cents to 78.07 cents U.S.
The biggest boost to the energy sector was Canadian Natural Resources, which rose $1.34, or 2.9%, to $48.28. Enbridge gained 52 cents, or 1.2%, to $42.32, after the pipeline operator said it would bring its independent units and liquids and gas pipeline assets under a single listed entity.
One of the largest percentage gainers was ATS Automation Tooling Systems, which jumped $2.21, or 12.8%, to $19.54 after reporting fourth-quarter results.
Aurora Cannabis fell 20 cents, or 2.7%, to $7.26, and Canopy Growth bounced 74 cents, or 2.3%, to $32.75.
Enbridge Income Fund climbed $1.42, or 5.1%, to $29.40, and Just Energy Group was down 29 cents, or 5.7%, to $4.78.
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.
Elsewhere, an ADP report showed Canada added 30,200 jobs in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped one point to 780.50
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with gold down 0.4%, while materials and health-care each shed 0.2%.
The five gainers were led by energy, up 2.3%, industrials, ahead 0.8%, and information technology, gaining 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday, led by strong gains in energy shares. But those gains were capped by declines in WalMart and Cisco Systems as well as interest rates trading at multiyear highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 7.37 points to 24,761.56
The S&P 500 added 3.38 points to 2,725.70
The NASDAQ acquired 7.86 points to 7,406.16
However, Cisco fell 3.3%, and WalMart ditched 1.4%. Cisco fell after reporting weaker-than-expected sales for its key services business, while WalMart fell despite reporting better-than-expected earnings.
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 lower, raising yields to 3.11% from Wednesday’s 3.1%. Treasury prices and yields tend to move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained five cents a barrel to $71.50 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $4.30 at $1,287.20 U.S. an ounce.
