Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, led by jumps in health-care and energy shares, after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted saying Washington and Beijing were getting "very close" to a trade deal.
The TSX Composite Index had gained 39.42 points to make its way into noon hour at 16,979.03
The Canadian dollar docked 0.09 cents at 75.82 cents U.S.
Bausch Health Companies, among the top percentage gainers on the TSX, rose $2.53, or 6.6% to $41.17, after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to "overweight".
Silvercorp Metals fell 31 cents, or 4.2%, the most on the TSX, to $7.15.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 0.34 points to 535.98
Seven of the 12 subgroups were positive as noon hour approached on Thursday, what with health-care climbing 2.6%, energy better by 2.1%, and consumer discretionary ahead 0.9%.
The five laggards were weighed most by real-estate, down 1.5%, utilities, sagging 0.9%, and consumer staples, going south 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks jumped to all-time highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said China and the U.S. were zeroing in on a trade deal, lifting hope that an agreement will be reached before a key deadline.
The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 159.28 points to begin Thursday at 28,070.58
The S&P 500 gained 18.49 points to 3,160.12
The NASDAQ added 35.06 points to 8,689.11
The major averages are up sharply for the year. The S&P 500 has popped 25.3%, and Dow has jumped 19.7%. The NASDAQ is up around 30%.
Trump said in a tweet both sides were getting "VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!"
His tweet comes after a report that said Trump was meeting with his top trade officials on Thursday ahead of a Sunday trade deadline. If an agreement is not reached by then, additional U.S. levies on Chinese products will take effect.
Dow Jones later reported U.S. negotiators are offering to cancel new China tariffs and reduce existing levies on Chinese goods by up to 50% on $360 billion worth of imports. However, the report also said the original tariffs would be re-imposed if China fails to carry out its end of the deal.
Caterpillar shares jumped 1.7% on Thursday while Micron Technology advanced 3%.
J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup all traded at least 2% higher.
Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed weekly jobless claims jumped last week by 49,000 to 252,000, their highest level since the week ended Sept. 30, 2017.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury tumbled sharply raising yields to 1.89% from Wednesday’s 1.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices restocked 56 cents to $58.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $3.60 at $1,471.40 U.S. an ounce.
