Equities in Toronto got a shot of energy early Thursday morning, ahead of a long weekend.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 98.79 points to open Thursday at 15,041.31. Markets are shuttered tomorrow for Good Friday.
The Canadian dollar improved 0.33 cents to 79.56 cents U.S.
Canadian auto sales rose in March from a year earlier, industry data showed on Wednesday, even as several major manufacturers, including General Motors and Toyota, reported declines.
Canada's largest oil and gas company Suncor Energy Inc said on Wednesday that it expected to largely implement operating budget cuts of $600 million-$800 million in 2015, ahead of the previously projected two-year period. Suncor shares gained $1.02, or 2.7%, to $38.27.
Kinross Gold Corp said on Wednesday that mining and crushing operations at its Maricunga mine in northern Chile remained suspended following severe floods in the region last week. Kinross shares lost a cent to $2.96.
CIBC raised the target on Com Dev International to $4.75 from $4.40. Com Dev shares gained seven cents to $4.69.
CIBC raised the price target on Keyera to $95.50 from $94.00. Keyera shares dropped a penny to $87.56.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that imports declined 0.7% in February while exports were up 0.4%. Consequently, our merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $1.5 billion in January to $984 million in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange poked up 0.33 points to 681.65
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher. Energy stocks climbed 1.3%, consumer discretionaries 1%, and telecoms up 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, off 1.2%, global base metals, down 0.8%, and materials, sliding 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday in the last day of trade for the week as investors digested economic data and set up for Friday's jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 86.12 points to 17,784.30, with United Technologies leading gains and Microsoft and McDonald's the only blue-chip laggards.
The S&P 500 improved 11.41 points to 2,071.10, with telecommunications leading all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ recovered 16.30 points to 4,896.52.
In corporate news, Lumber Liquidators said March sales were hurt by the "60 Minutes" report on alleged safety problems with its flooring, falling 12.8% compared to a year ago. However, it also notes that first quarter sales were up 5.6% which puts them above Street estimates.
The CFTC sued Kraft Foods and Mondelez for alleged manipulation of wheat futures and cash wheat prices. Some of the incidents mentioned in the complaint occurred before the 2012 transaction which split Kraft and Mondelez into separate companies. Mondelez said it does not expect any payment resulting from this case to be material to investors, and Kraft tells the mediathat Mondelez will predominantly bear any costs related to the case.
Pfizer will shut down its vaccine sales operation in China after regulators did not renew an import license for its anti-bacterial treatment Prevenar, the only vaccine it sells in that country.
AIG has been sued by investment firm Pimco, with dozens of Pimco funds saying they suffered sizable losses during the 2008 financial crisis due to AIG's investment in "exotic securities." AIG said it would vigorously defend itself against those charges.
Factory orders showed an increase of 0.2%in February, beating expectations for a second month of decline.
Futures were little changed following a decline in weekly jobless claims to 268,000. February's trade deficit also came in much smaller than expected at $35.4 billion U.S.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, boosting yields to 1.90% from Wednesday’s 1.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved lower 46 cents to $49.63 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $5.60 to $1,202.60 U.S.
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