Stocks lifted themselves out of the dungeon Thursday, on the strength of tech and discretionary stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index found its way out of its cave, where it had lost more than 100 points to start Thursday’s session, ending with a gain of 32.39 points to 16,409.16
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.1 cents at 76.83 cents U.S.
Techs followed in the footsteps of their American cousins, with Shopify flying high $9.50, or 5.4%, to $186.52, while Constellation Software vaulted $19.19, or 2.1%, to $949.19.
Gildan Activewear jumped $7.49, or 22.2%, to $41.29, after the apparel maker lifted its full-year sales and profit forecast.
Among the biggest gainers on the index was Spin Master Corp, which rose $2.59, or 4.9%, to $55.52 after results.
In health-care, Canopy Growth picked up 85 cents, or 2.5%, to $34.41.
The biggest lags on the energy index were Suncor Energy, which fell 59 cents, or 1.1%, to $53.70, and Canadian Natural Resources, which dropped a dollar, or 2.1%, to $46.42.
The telecoms sector also got bruised, as BCE dropped $1.12, or 2%, to $54.16, while Rogers Communications gained 30 cents to $66.67.
In the gold sector, Kinross Gold docked 17 cents, or 3.7%, to $4.46, while Goldcorp let go of 19 cents, or 1.2%, to $15.83.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 0.1 points to 700.93
Half the 12 subgroups were higher, what with information technology springing up 2.4%, consumer discretionary leaping 1.3%, while health-care jumped 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by telecoms, energy and gold, each down 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday as Apple became the first U.S. publicly traded company in history to reach $1 trillion in market value.
The NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 rose on Thursday as shares of Apple reached a milestone.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained erased a 200-point gain, and actually moved into positive country, before fading 7.66 by the end of the day to 25,326.16
The S&P 500 hiked 13.86 points to 2,827.22
The NASDAQ surged 95.4 points, or 1.2%, to 7,802.69.
Apple shares rose 3.2% to $207.97 a share, lifting its market cap above the $1-trillion mark. Apple's stock has been on a tear since the company reported stronger-than-forecast quarterly results earlier this week. Since then, the stock is up more than 8%.
Shares of big exporter Caterpillar dipped 0.3%, and Boeing fell 0.7%.
More than 70% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results through Thursday morning, with 78% reporting better-than-expected profits
The U.S. administration announced on Wednesday that President Donald Trump asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider increasing the proposed levies on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods up to 25%, from 10%.
Earnings season continued on Thursday with DowDuPont and Aetna reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Aetna's shares were up 0.4%, but DowDuPont's stock fell more than 2%.
Tesla shares surged more than 14% after CEO Elon Musk said the company would be profitable in the second half. However, Tesla posted a wider-than-expected loss on the bottom line for the previous quarter.
More than 70% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results through Thursday morning, with 78% reporting better-than-expected profits
The U.S. Labor Department said weekly jobless claims rose to 218,000. Economists polled by Reuters expected an increase to 220,000. The report comes after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, but upgraded its outlook on the U.S. economy to strong. It also comes ahead of the department's monthly jobs reports, scheduled for release Friday.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 2.99% from Wednesday’s 3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices were up $1.30 to $68.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $10.50 to $1,217.10 U.S. an ounce.
