Canada's main stock index rose slightly on Thursday, driven by a clutch of positive earnings reports from companies including Bombardier and Tim Hortons-owner Restaurant Brands International.
The TSX eked up 11.23 points in Thursday’s first hour at 19,557.17.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.12 cents to 77.67 cents U.S.
Bombardier posted a smaller second-quarter loss, helped by steady demand and lower interest expenses, while Thomson Reuters reported higher operating profit and raised its full-year revenue forecast.
Bombardier moved into noon hour up $1.24, or 5.3%, to $24.67.
Restaurant Brands International climbed $4.53, or 6.4% to $75.11, as the company beat second-quarter sales and profit estimates, boosted
by strong demand at its Burger King and Tim Hortons restaurants.
Sun Life Financial gained $1.64, or 2.8% to $60.78, on a better-than-expected core profit for
the second quarter and sale of its U.K. unit.
Thomson Reuters advanced $4.40, or 3.1%, to $147.19, after it reported a higher operating profit and raised its full-year revenue forecast.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reports this country’s merchandise exports increased 2% in June, mostly on crude oil and gold exports.
Meanwhile, imports rose 1.7%, mainly on energy products. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world widened from $4.8 billion in May to $5 billion in June.
Elsewhere, building permits declined 1.5% in June to $11.9 billion, mainly due to the non-residential sector, which dropped 10.4% to $3.7 billion, after posting its second highest monthly value.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged higher 3.23 points to 658.43.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher during lunch hour, with gold and materials each better 2.4%, while consumer discretionary stocks were up 1.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy, tumbling 3.4%, health-care, off 1.2%, and information technology, sliding 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials slipped Thursday as traders anxiously await the Friday jobs report, which will give more information about a potential economic downturn.
The 30-stock index took a step backward from Wednesday’s monster gains, losing 78.5 points noon ET to 32,788.96
The S&P 500 dipped 1.59 points to 4,153.58,
The NASDAQ Composite gathered 31.99 points to 12,700.15.
A slight uptick in weekly jobless claims, reported Thursday morning, weighed on investors watching for signs that labor market strength is dwindling. The July jobs report, scheduled to be released Friday, will show how employers hired last month. In addition, investors will get an updated look at inflation data from the July consumer price index report next week.
Earnings season continued, with a slew of reports Thursday. Eli Lilly shares fell after the company missed Wall Street’s estimates for its quarterly results and cut its full-year forecast. Shares of Datadog and Lucid also fell after both companies cut future outlooks.
Virgin Galactic, AMC Entertainment and Beyond Meat are scheduled to report after the bell.
Treasury prices gained ground Thursday, lowering yields to 2.67%, from Wednesday’s 2.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices doffed $2.55 to $88.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices powered ahead $29.80 to $1,806.20 U.S. an ounce.
