Stocks in Toronto gathered muscle midday Thursday, as tech and gold stocks popped, counteracting losses in health-care.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index boosted 68.6 points to greet noon hour at 16,334.42
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.45 cents at 76.62 cents U.S.
Among tech issues, BlackBerry moved up 10 cents to $16.10, while Constellation Software strengthened $17.88, or 1.7%, to $1,058.40.
Gold stocks moved higher, as Barrick Gold climbed 17 cents, or 1%, to $17.13, while Kinross Gold marched up eight cents, or 1.7%, to $4.93.
In the industrial sector, CN gained $1.52, or 1.4%, to $109.83.
Health-care stocks were ailing, though, as Canopy Growth shed 59 cents, or 1.5%, to $39.27, while Aurora Cannabis remained at the breakeven level of $9.02.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported new house prices in Canada were unchanged for a second consecutive month, despite increases in some pockets across the country.
Italy will not ratify the European Union's free trade agreement with Canada because it does not ensure sufficient protection for the country's specialty foods, new Agriculture Minister Gian Marco Centinaio said in a newspaper interview.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 0.63 points to 760.8
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive midday, as gold and information technology each gained 1.1%, and industrials improved 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, off 0.4%, while telecoms and real-estate each flopped 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite rose on Thursday as technology and media shares were lifted by dealmaking activity.
The Dow Jones Industrials reached noon in the red 12.52 points to 25,188.68, as bank shares declined.
The S&P 500 held onto gains of 7.59 points to 2,783.22, with tech as the best-performing sector.
The NASDAQ jumped 61.1 points to 7,783.22
Investors cheered dealmaking news, as shares of 21st Century Fox rose 1.8% after Comcast announced a bid to buy several major units of the media giant for $65 billion. Comcast's bid tops Disney's, who agreed to a $52.4-billion deal. Comcast shares rose 3.4% while Disney gained 1.6%
The news comes a day after a judge approved AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner. Last year, the Justice Department sued to block the merger, arguing it would potentially lead to higher prices for the consumer. AT&T shares rose 0.9%, while Time Warner gained 1%.
Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase dipped 2% and Goldman Sachs pulled back 0.5%. Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley also traded lower.
Bank stocks fell after the European Central Bank said it would hold off on raising rates until next year, sending Treasury yields lower.
Thursday's moves come after U.S. stocks closed lower after the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday a new rate hike and indicated that two other increases are possible until the end of the year. As a result, the Dow fell about 120 points as traders expect that the higher rates will bring higher costs for companies.
The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.8% in May, well above an economist estimate of 0.4%. That also marked the biggest gain in retail sales since November.
The U.S. Labor Department also reported that weekly jobless claims fell to a more-than-44-year-low last week, pointing to a tightening jobs market.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were lower, raising yields to 2.95% from Wednesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 20 cents to $66.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $7.40 at $1,308.70 U.S. an ounce.
