Canada's main stock index moved higher on Thursday, building on the previous session's gains, boosted by a rise in financial shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 46.72 points to open the session at 16,443.01
The Canadian dollar scaled back 0.32 cents at 74.76 cents U.S.
RBC cut the rating on Boralex to sector perform from outperform. Shares in Boralex fell 51 cents, or 2.6%, to $18.90. The second biggest decliner was New Gold Inc, down four cents, or 3.2%, to $1.22.
CIBC raised the price target on Cogeco Communications to $98.00 from $94.00. Cogeco shares retreated $1.64, or 1.8%, to $89.93.
Top percentage gainers on the TSX were Peyto Exploration & Development, which jumped 28 cents, or 4.1%, to $7.11, followed by a rise of 12 cents, or 1.8%, to $6.70, in Lundin Mining.
On matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index was unchanged in February, despite growth in some of the housing markets surveyed.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell back 0.97 points to 628.12
The 12 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between winners and losers, as energy climbed 0.7%, financials were up 0.5%, and consumer staples took on 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, sliding 0.9%, gold, down 0.3%, and materials, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks posted slight gains on Thursday as investors cheered progress on U.S.-China trade talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 40.33 points to open at 26,197.49, led by Boeing and J.P. Morgan Chase.
The S&P 500 gained 3.29 points to 2,891.50, as the financials sector outperformed.
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 5.51 points to 7,958.74
Bank shares rose broadly as the earnings season was set to start. J.P. Morgan Chase gained 0.6%, and Wells Fargo rose 0.7%. The two report on Friday. Morgan Stanley and Citigroup also traded higher.
Chipotle Mexican Grill shares fell more than 1% after Jefferies downgraded them, citing a "full" valuation and a run-up that "reflects improved visibility for powerful [same-store sales] and margin drivers."
Tesla, meanwhile, fell nearly 3% after a report said the company and Panasonic were holding off on a Gigafactory expansion. The delay, according to the Nikkei report, is due to worries that demand for Tesla vehicles is slowing down.
The Wall Street Journal reported that China agreed to open its cloud-computing sector to foreign companies in an attempt to sweeten a deal with the U.S.
This follows Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin telling reporters on Wednesday that Washington and Beijing have “pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism” for when a deal is struck.
Investors also weighed news that talks between E.U. leaders and British Prime Minister Theresa May culminated in a “flexible extension ” of the U.K.’s departure from the bloc until Oct. 31.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury faltered, raising yields to 2.49% from Wednesday’s 2.47%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices backed off 46 cents to $64.15 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices deleted $11.50 to $1,302.40 U.S. an ounce.
