Equities in Canada hit a record high on Thursday, helped by easing tensions in the Middle East, while the Chinese confirmation of an interim trade deal next week also supported investors' risk appetite.
The TSX Composite Index started Thursday on the right foot, gaining 42.43 points to 17,210.25
The Canadian dollar slid 0.22 cents to 76.49 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Pembina Pipeline which jumped $2.08, or 4.3%, to $50.09. after pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc said it had sold Pembina's 25 million shares, which it had received when Pembina bought Kinder Morgan Canada.
Baytex Energy fell 11 cents, or 5.8%, the most on the TSX, to $1.80, while the second-biggest decliner was Encana on which Barclays cut the rating on to underweight from equal weight. Encana doffed 24 cents, or 4.1%, to $5.64.
Cenovus Energy unveiled plans to reduce per-barrel greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by the end of 2030, as the country's oil industry faces growing pressure from environmental activists. Cenovus shares dropped 15 cents, or 1.1%, to $12.97.
Wells Fargo upgraded the rating on Hydro One to overweight from equal weight. Hydro One shares gained 21 cents to $25.38.
Raymond James cut the rating OrganiGram Holdings to market perform from outperform. OrganiGram shares slipped a penny to $2.74.
On the economic front, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's seasonally-adjusted annual rates of housing starts in Canada fell 3% from a month earlier to 197,329 units in December 2019 from an upwardly revised 204,300 in November and missing market estimates of 210,000
Moreover, Statistics Canada reported that building permits’ total value decreased 2.4% to $8.1 billion in November. Declines were reported in six provinces, with the largest decrease in Ontario (-5.7% to $3.2 billion).
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange deleted 0.51 points to 577.40
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were in positive country in the first hour, as information technology improved 1.5%, industrials triumphed 0.8% and consumer discretionary marched ahead 0.6%.
The lone laggards were energy, down 1.6%, and communications, off 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose to record highs on Thursday as tensions between Iran and the U.S. eased for the time being.
The Dow Jones Industrials soared 151.82 points to 28,896.91
The S&P 500 improved 17.84 points to 3,270.92.
The NASDAQ hiked 75.45 points to 9,204.69, to yet another all-time high.
AMD shares gained more than 4% after an analyst at Mizuho Securities upgraded them to buy from neutral, citing a potentially stronger server market in 2020. Goldman Sachs climbed 1.5% after Bank of America upgraded the bank to buy from neutral, citing an attractive valuation and the benefits of a possible global economic rebound.
Apple shares jumped 1.7% to a record high after a Reuters report said, citing government data, that iPhone sales in China rose 18% in December.
In corporate news, Kohl’s shares dropped 8% after issuing earnings guidance to the low end of their fiscal 2019 forecast. Meanwhile, Bed Bath & Beyond pulled back more than 18% on news it is delaying the closure of 20 stores until fiscal 2020.
Wall Street also digested strong employment data on Thursday, which helped lift sentiment. Weekly jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 214,000 from 223,000. That’s better than the expected print of 220,000.
Thursday’s jobless claims data follows stronger-than-expected private payroll numbers released Wednesday. ADP and Moody’s Analytics said U.S. private payrolls increased by 202,000 in December, topping a Dow Jones estimate of 150,000.
Those numbers precede the U.S. Labor Department’s release of its monthly jobs report on Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the U.S. economy added 160,000 jobs last month.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury slipped a mite, raising yields to 1.89% from Wednesday’s 1.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 89 cents to $58.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $10.30 to $1,549.90 U.S. an ounce.
