Markets in Canada’s largest centre ticked higher in early trade on Thursday, helped by gains among its biggest banking stocks while energy companies weighed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index began Thursday added 62.06 points to 15,940.54
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.12 cents to 78.45 cents U.S.
BlackBerry announced the outsourcing of a significant part of its patent licensing efforts on Wednesday to a unit of the U.S.-based Marconi Group.
The company once known as Research In Motion gained 15 cents, or 1.1%, to $13.36.
Hudson's Bay Co said it saw no merit in activist fund Land and Buildings' recent appeal against the Toronto Stock Exchange's conditional approval for a $500-million investment from Rhone Capital.
Bay shares fell seven cents to $11.18.
CIBC cut the rating on Canacol Energy to neutral from outperform. Canacol nicked three cents higher to $4.20.
CIBC initiated coverage on Profound Medical with an outperform rating and $3.50 price target. Profound shares acquired a penny, or 1.2%, to 86 cents.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that Foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $16.8 billion in September, up from $9.8 billion in August. At the same time, Canadian investment in foreign securities slowed to $2.4 billion in September, after reaching $12.1 billion in August.
Meanwhile, manufacturing sales rose 0.5% to $53.7 billion in September, reflecting higher sales in the petroleum and coal product industry.
Forecasts were for manufacturing sales are forecast to have declined by 0.3%, in line with slower economic growth in the second half of the year after a strong first six months.
Moreover, ADP Canada released its first publication of the Canada National Employment Report this morning.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 2.02 points to 789.60
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as information technology skyrocketed 1.2%, financials were richer 0.6%, and industrials acquired 0.5%.
The two laggards were health-care, sliding 2.1%, and energy, tailing off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities rose on Thursday, rebounding from consecutive declines, following strong quarterly results from Cisco Systems and Wal-Mart. Wall Street also looked ahead to a key vote on tax reform.
The Dow Jones industrial average recovered from the carnage of recent sessions, climbing 161.26 points to 23,432.54, with Cisco and Wal-Mart leading advancers on the 30-stock index.
Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, sending the stock more than 8% higher to an all-time high. The company's results were boosted by a surge in grocery and online sales.
Cisco also reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, lifted in part by strong sales of software applications. Cisco shares popped 6% and were on track for their best session since Feb. 11, 2016.
The S&P 500 improved 16.03 points to 2,580.65, with consumer staples and information technology as the best-performing sectors. NetApp, which rose more than 16% and Wal-Mart were the best-performing stocks in the index.
The NASDAQ Composite leaped 66.27 points, or 1%, to 6,772.48
Later on Thursday, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a tax plan. If the bill becomes law, it would slash the corporate tax rate to 20% from 35%. Expectations of tax reform have helped stocks reach all-time highs recently.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sank Thursday, raising yields to 2.35% from Wednesday’s 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell a penny a barrel to $55.32 U.S.
Gold prices brightened $1.90 to $1,279.60 U.S. an ounce.
