Canadian stocks were solidly in the green Thursday, helped by climbing energy stocks in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s assault on Texas.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index triumphed 78.74 points to conclude Thursday at 15,211.87
The Canadian dollar galloped 0.88 cents to 80.10 cents U.S.
Energy stocks led the charge, Cenovus Energy rose 37 cents, or 3.9%, to $9.80. Encana Corp rose 27 cents, or 2.4%, to $11.66.
Tech stocks followed close behind, as BlackBerry climbed 17 cents, or 1.5%, to $11.59, while Constellation Software gained $11.10, or 1.6%, to $696.93
Among gold issues, Goldcorp Inc gained 28 cents, or 1.7% to $17.17, while Kinross Gold rocketed 17 cents, or 3%, to $5.69.
Consumer staples suffered a mite, as Metro Inc. dipped 15 cents to $41.28, while Saputo Inc. subtracted 46 cents, or 1.1%, to $42.14.
Among telecoms, BCE ditched 28 cents to $59.44.
On the economic schedule, Statistics Canada reported that real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.1% in the second quarter, following a 0.9% gain in the first quarter. Expressed at an annualized rate, real GDP rose 4.5% in the second quarter. Experts were expecting a rise of 3.7% for Q2.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 3.93 points to 776.85
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, most notably energy, ahead 1.4%, information technology, gaining 1.1%, and gold, up 1%.
The two laggards were consumer staples, retreating 0.4%, and telecoms, fading 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, the last trading day of the month, as Wall Street ended August on a high note. Investors also digested a broad swath of economic data ahead of a key employment report.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 55.67 points to close at 21,948.10, with UnitedHealth contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 tacked on 14.06 points to 2,471.65, with health-care leading nine sectors higher.
The NASDAQ improved 60.35 points, or 1%, to 6,428.66, a record close
For the month, the Dow and the S&P 500 notched five-month winning streaks, while the NASDAQ recorded its ninth positive month in 10
Dollar General and Methode Electronics Inc. were among the companies reporting earnings Thursday.
Investors also digested key economic data released Thursday.
Weekly jobless claims totaled 236,000, matching estimates, while the so-called core personal consumption expenditures increased 1.4% in July on a year-over-year basis, the smallest gain since December 2015. The core PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, and it's lagging the central bank's 2% target.
Other economic data released Thursday included pending home sales, which fell 0.8% in June. The data deluge comes a day ahead of the U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly employment report, which is scheduled for release on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained a small bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.12% from Wednesday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.11 to $47.07 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained back $12.70 to $1,326.80 U.S. an ounce.
