The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Thursday, a day after markets responded enthusiastically to the Federal Reserve's decision to modestly cut back on a key stimulus program. The Fed also emphasized that short-term rates aren't going up any time soon.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 34.84 points to greet noon Thursday at 13,369.57, after a 150-point-plus hike Wednesday
The Canadian dollar gained 0.19 cents to 93.66 cents U.S.
On Thursday, among gold plays, Barrick Gold fell 47 cents to $17.61 and Goldcorp faded 59 cents to $22.01.
In the energy sector, Canadian Natural Resources was ahead 33 cents to $34.75.
The base metals component moved higher while March copper slipped two cents to $3.29 U.S. a pound.
Tech stocks also lifted the TSX with CGI Group ahead 69 cents to $37.74. BlackBerry rose six cents to $6.53 a day before the smartphone maker releases its latest earnings.
A major decliner was auto parts company Martinrea International. It says it has identified an issue with the financial reporting of one of its Canadian plants. It said "it appears at this point that the plant misreported its financial statements over a number of years dating back to 2005." Its stock fell $1.18 or 12.5% to $8.24.
A report from a federal review panel on Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline through B.C. will be released later Thursday (at 4:30 p.m. EST) following more than a year of hearings. The final decision on whether the pipeline can go ahead rests with the federal government. Enbridge slipped eight cents to $44.77.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the number of regular recipients of employment insurance was little changed in October at 510,500. Compared with 12 months earlier, though, the number of beneficiaries fell 8.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.19 points to 887.58
Eight of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower midday, weighed mostly by gold, off 1.7%, while materials slid 0.5% and utilities subsided 0.4%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by metals and mining, up 1.7%, while information technology, ahead 1.2%, and global base metals, taking on 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors took a breather Thursday, following a huge Fed-inspired rally Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 4.34 points short of breakeven by noon ET to 16,163.63, after Wednesday’s near-300-point gain.
The S&P 500 index docked 2.42 points to 1,808.23. The NASDAQ was down 12.48 points to 4,057.48
In corporate news, Target shares were down in early trading after the retailer said that as many as 40 million people who shopped at Target stores in the three weeks after Thanksgiving may be affected by a breach of credit and debit card data.
Facebook fell slightly after the social media company filed to sell 70 million shares, mostly to index funds that will be buying the stock once it is added to the S&P 500. That includes more than 41 million shares from co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Darden Restaurants missed on earnings, as its quarterly profit plunged from a year ago. The company also announced plans to spin off the Red Lobster chain, which experienced a slump in sales.
Despite Wednesday's big gains, December has so far been a dud for the stock market. All three indexes are flat for the month. But a so-called Santa Claus rally still has time to transpire, especially now that investors have a lot more clarity from the Fed.
But even without any huge gains, 2013 has been a stellar year for stocks. The Dow and S&P 500 are up more than 20% for the year, while the NASDAQ has gained more than 30%.
Those gains put the Dow on track for its best year since 2003 and the S&P 500 on pace for its best year since 1998. The NASDAQ's gains would be the index's best since 2009.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries faded, hiking yields to 2.93% from Wednesday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 91 cents to $98.71 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $35.80 to $1,199.30 U.S. an ounce.
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