Stocks turned higher in Toronto after a sluggish start on Thursday, as investors sought direction from recent comments from the Canadian and U.S. central banks.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon 38.26 points, at 14,372.30.
The Canadian dollar descended 0.01 cents at 88.93 cents U.S.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd lost 1% to $171.25 and pipeline company TransCanada Corp slipped 0.3% to $50.13.
In the financial group, Manulife Financial Corp was up 1.8% at $21.43 and Sun Life Financial Inc added 1.4% to $38.82.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that 502,500 people received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in January, down 9,900, or 1.9%, from the previous month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 5.92 points to 1,032.95
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, with gold up 1.2%, while metals and mining and their cousins among global base metals each surged 0.9%.
The five laggards were weighed by industrials, down 0.6%, while utilities and consumer staples each faded 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The most powerful central banker in the world has spoken and markets were still reacting Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke for lunch up 117.09 points to 16,339.26
The S&P 500 index recovered 12.04 points to 1,872.81. The NASDAQ gained 19.44 to 4,327.06
In corporate news, Homebuilder Lennar issued a strong report and said new orders in the latest quarter rose 10%. But the stock fell in early trading. Shares of other residential construction companies were also lower, including KB Home, D.R. Horton and Hovnanian
Shares of companies that make 3D printers fell after ExOne reported a larger-than-expected loss and issued an outlook that disappointed investors. 3D Systems and Voxeljet were caught in the downdraft.
Burlington Stores reported a quarterly jump in same-store sales and adjusted net income year-to-year. Shares of Guess fell after the apparel maker's revenue forecasts fell below analyst expectations. Dow company Nike will report after the market closes.
In economic news, the U.S. government said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose last week. An index of manufacturing activity by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia bounced back in March. The National Association of Realtors said rising prices and cold weather weighed on sales of existing homes in February.
Investors are still digesting the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting Wednesday -- the first under the direction of chair Janet Yellen.
The official statement was as expected: The Fed will continue reducing its bond buying in April and the central bank will now base its interest rate policy on inflation data and a broad array of labor market indicators, instead of the unemployment rate alone.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were down, lifting yields to 2.78% from Wednesday’s 2.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dove $1.02 to $99.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subsided $10.30 to $1,331.00 U.S. an ounce.
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