Canada's main stock index gained for the 10th straight session Thursday, led by the energy sector as oil prices hit $80 a barrel for the first time since November 2014.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tacked on 35.49 points to end Thursday at 16,143.55
The Canadian dollar deducted 0.11 cents to 78.12 cents U.S.
Gold put a damper on things, though, as Barrick Gold shed three cents to $16.88, and Kinross Gold lost a penny to $4.55
Utilities faltered, too, as Fortis Inc. dropped 41 cents, or nearly 1%, to $41.46
Materials slid, as Teck Resources lost 13 cents to $36.60, and Agnico Eagle Minerals withered 45 cents to $55.67
The biggest boost to the energy sector was Canadian Natural Resources, which rose $1.12, or 2.4%, to $48.06. Enbridge gained 39 cents to $42.19, after the pipeline operator said it would bring its independent units and liquids and gas pipeline assets under a single listed entity.
Tech issues added strength to the gainers, as Constellation Software gained $6.41 to $983.22.
One of the largest percentage gainers was ATS Automation Tooling Systems, which jumped $1.92, or 11.1%, to $19.25 after reporting fourth-quarter results.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $6.1 billion in March, led by acquisitions of money market instruments.
At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $1.9 billion, the first divestment in four months.
Elsewhere, an ADP report showed Canada added 30,200 jobs in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.15 points to 781.35
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with gold down 0.5%, while utilities doffed 0.3%, and materials shed 0.2%.
The four gainers were led by energy, up 2.3%, information technology, gaining 0.5%, and industrials, ahead 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Thursday after President Donald Trump indicated trade talks between the U.S. and China may not be fruitful.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 54.95 points to 24,713.98, with Cisco Systems fell 3.8%, and WalMart dropped 1.9%.
The S&P 500 subtracted 2.33 points to 2,720.13, as tech declined 0.5%.
The NASDAQ gave back 15.82 points to 7,382.47, with Amazon, Netflix, Apple and Alphabet all falling.
Wall Street also looked to Washington as the U.S. and China kicked off the second round of trade talks. U.S. and Chinese officials have indicated that the gap between the two countries is significant, however.
Tensions between the U.S. and China have increased in recent months as both countries have hit each other with tariffs targeting some of their exports. The U.S. also banned companies from exporting goods to Chinese tech companies ZTE. Those tensions have sparked worries that the two largest world economies could engage each other in a trade war.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were lower, raising yields to 3.12% from Wednesday’s 3.1%. Treasury prices and yields tend to move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained nine cents a barrel to $71.58 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $1.10 at $1,290.40 U.S. an ounce.
