Equities in Canada’s biggest market held steady on Thursday as broader declines were offset by a strong rally in BlackBerry Ltd and Bombardier Inc. shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index retained 21.75 points to greet noon at 15,631.41
The Canadian dollar restored 0.10 cents to 80.25 cents U.S
The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, once known as Research in Motion, reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results on record sales for its closely watched software unit, sending its shares surging 13.9% to $13.13. BlackBerry was the most influential driver on the positive side for the index and also helped lift the technology sector
Bombardier rebounded from sharp losses in the previous session after the company was dealt major setbacks in its aerospace and rail units.
The shares advanced 6.7% to $2.24.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International fell 4.9% to $17.08, pushing the health-care group down.
Metro Inc gave back some of Wednesday’s rally following news it was in talks to buy pharmacy chain Jean Coutu for $3.6 billion. Metro was down 2.8% at $42.40, while Jean Coutu was down 1.3% at $24.23.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $970 in July, little changed from the previous month. Compared with July 2016, earnings were up 1.8%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regrouped 1.38 points to 776.99
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive midday, with information technology ahead 0.9%, gold up 0.8%, and telecoms ahead 0.4%.
The three laggards proved to be health-care, down 1.5%, energy, off 0.5%, and real-estate, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded narrowly mixed Thursday after the release of the GOP's highly anticipated tax reform plan.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from an early day collapse, gaining 36.26 points to 22,376.97
McDonald's rose 2.5% and accounted for most of the Dow's gains after Longbow Research raised its rating for the restaurant chain to buy from neutral on expectations McDonald's sales will top Wall Street estimates.
The S&P 500 squeezed up 0.33 points to 2,507.37. Materials and health care stocks led S&P advancers, while financials traded mildly lower as the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ docked 12.5 points to 6,440.77, as Apple and Netflix traded nearly 1% lower. Facebook rose slightly.
In economic news, the final read on U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product showed a 3.1% increase. Weekly jobless claims rose slightly to 272,000.
The GOP tax plan released Wednesday breaks rates down into three categories and cuts corporate tax rates. The plan also seeks to give companies a break for profits stashed overseas while doubling the standard deduction for most filers
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slumped, hiking yields to 2.33% from Wednesday’s 2.3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 63 cents a barrel to $51.51 U.S.
Gold prices dropped 40 cents to $1,287.40 U.S. an ounce
