Stocks in Canada’s largest centre found their way into winning territory on Thursday as gains in the real-estate and utility sectors were only mildly countered by losses in resource stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 79.39 points to end Thursday at 15,407.66
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.06 cents to 80.05 cents U.S.
Real-estate concerns had the best time of it Thursday, as Colliers International gained 63 cents to $$83.81, while Brookfield Asset Management popped a dollar, or 2.1%, to $49.39.
Among utilities, Fortis Inc. traveled 81 cents, or 2%, higher to $40.50, and Hydro One took on 22 cents, or 1.1%, to $20.47.
Telecoms moved higher, with Shaw Communications adding nine cents to $25.65, while Rogers vaulted 97 cents, or 1.7%, to $58.10.
Energy stocks lost some steam by day’s end, with Imperial Oil fading 53 cents, or 1.5%, to $34.16, while Birchcliff Energy dumped 15 cents, or 4.6%, to $3.08.
On the downside, Barrick Gold Corp declined 53 cents, or 3.1%, to $16.61 after the world's biggest gold producer forecast an output drop over the next four years. Kinross Gold shed 42 cents, or 7.7%, to $4.94.
Materials felt around for the bruises, too, as Agnico Eagle Mines moved lower 87 cents, or 1.5%, to $56.30.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported that in December, 500,100 people received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, down 1.1% from November.
The agency adds the number of EI recipients has been on a downward trend since October 2016.
Also the Canadian Real Estate Association revealed national home sales via Canadian MLS Systems dropped sharply in January after having climbed to the highest monthly level on record in December.
CREA said actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity was down 2.4% from January 2017 and stood close the 10-year average for the month of January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 1.97 points to end Thursday at 834.20
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive on the day, led by real-estate, climbing 1.9%, while utilities soared 1.4%, and telecoms advanced 1.2%.
The three laggards were energy, slouching 0.9%, while gold and materials each were down 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose sharply in choppy trading Thursday as the major indexes extended their current winning streak to five days. The move higher took place despite interest rates reaching multi-year highs.
The Dow Jones industrial average took off for the sky, garnering 306.88 points, or 1.2%, to 25,200.37, with Boeing as the biggest contributor of gains. The 30-stock index traded down 84 points at its session low.
The S&P 500 added 32.57 points, or 1.2%, to 2,731.20, with utilities and tech as the best-performing sectors.
The NASDAQ leaped 112.82 points, or 1.6%, to 7,256.43, after falling as much as 0.2%. Gains in Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet helped lift the tech-heavy index higher.
In corporate news, Cisco Systems jumped 4.7% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company also posted its first year-over-year revenue increase in more than two years.
Sources told some media that Amazon is teaming up with Bank of America to provide loans to merchants. Amazon fell 0.7%, while Bank of America shares traded 0.3%.
Last Thursday, the indexes closed 10% below record highs set Jan. 26. One of the factors cited by investors and traders was a surge in interest rates to levels not seen in years.
On the data front Thursday, jobless claims increased by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 230,000, rebounding from a near 45-year low. The price producer index, meanwhile, rose 0.4% in January, in line with expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell, raising yields to Wednesday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved 92 cents a barrel to $61.52 U.S.
Gold prices sank $2.90 to $1,355.10 U.S. an ounce.
