Energy stocks helped give the Toronto stock market a major boost Thursday amid volatile crude prices and a well-received earnings report from the oilpatch.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 129.27 points to close Thursday at 15,124.92
The Canadian dollar moved higher 0.98 cents to 80.49 cents U.S.
The steep decline in prices was reflected in the quarterly earnings report from Suncor, Canada's biggest oil and gas company. Its net earnings shrank to $84 million, down 81% from the $443 million it posted a year earlier.
Earnings ex-items were $383 million or 27 cents a share, eight cents short of estimates. Cash flow from operations fell to $1.49 billion from $2.35 billion. On the plus side, Suncor finished 2014 having spent $300 million less than its $6.8 billion forecast and its stock rose $1.04, or 2.8%, to $38.53, helping send the energy sector up.
In other earnings news, telecommunications and media giant BCE Inc. posted net income of $542 million in the fourth quarter, up nearly 10% from a year before. Adjusted earnings were 72 cents per share, up nearly 3% from least year and a penny ahead of analyst forecasts.
BCE also says its annual dividend will be rising by 5.3% to $2.60 per share and its shares gained 18 cents to $58.97.
March copper was unchanged at $2.59 U.S. a pound and the base metals group also gained, as Sherritt International added 1.5 cents to $2.18.
The TSX was also supported by the industrials and financials sectors. Bombardier gained two cents to $2.96, and RBC added $1.26 to $75.39
The gold sector was down as Barrick Gold gave back a penny to $16.21
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that our country’s imports hiked by 2.3% in December and exports rose 1.5%. That means Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $335 million in November to $649 million in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 7.26 points to 693.93
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day, led by metals and mining, hiking 2.6%, energy, soaring 1.9%, and global base metals, better by 1.6%.
The three laggards proved to be consumer staples, down 1.8%, telecoms, sinking 1.3%, and gold, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday, encouraged by oil gains and shaking off concerns about Greece and U.S. data ahead of tomorrow's all-important jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 211.68 points, or 1.2%, to greet the closing bell Thursday at 17,884.88, led by Pfizer, whose shares spiked more than 3% on news of its acquisition of Hospira for about $15 billion U.S. to gain access to biosimilars, copies of biotech drugs made from living cells.
Also leading blue chip gains was DuPont, whose shares rose after being halted on news that the firm named Edward Breen and James Gallogly to its board.
The S&P 500 rebounded 21.01 points to 2,062.52. The majority of S&P 500 companies that reported earnings early on Thursday beat expectations by 1% or more, according to The Earnings Scout.
Ball Corp led gains with a 9% rise following the company's statement relating to the possible acquisition of its UK rival Rexam. Ball is a supplier of metal packaging to the beverage, food, personal care and household products industry.
The NASDAQ index skyrocketed 48.40 points to 4,765.10.
The major indices mostly recovered losses for 2015.
FireEye moved higher on news the IT security company had been hired to help health insurer Anthem investigate its massive cybersecurity breach.
In corporate news, social media giant Twitter reports after the bell, as does video game maker Activision Blizzard.
Also reporting earnings after the bell, CME Group will be in focus after the group announced plans to close most of its futures trading pits in Chicago and New York City by July 2 on Wednesday.
Futures held gains after digesting U.S. economic data before the bell. Weekly jobless claims came in at 278,000, below estimates of 290,000 and above last week's 267,000 figure.
Non-farm productivity fell a greater-than-expected 1.8% for the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rising at a 0.5% pace.
The U.S. trade deficit for December widened sharply to its highest level since 2012. The Commerce Department said on Thursday the trade deficit jumped 17.1% to $46.6 billion U.S., the largest since November 2012. It was the biggest percentage increase since July 2009.
The number of planned layoffs by U.S. employers rose to a nearly two-year high in January as the energy industry slashed jobs in the face of falling oil prices, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Continued talks between Greek and euro-zone leaders show that the developments are part of a negotiation, making the situation "less of a negative" for now, he said, noting that investors will still be watching headlines closely.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries hesitated a bit, raising yields to 1.82% from Wednesday’s 1.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sprouted higher $2.35 per barrel to $51.72 U.S.
Gold prices eked up 50 cents an ounce to $1,263.20 U.S.
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