Equities in Toronto advanced marginally on Thursday, with gains limited by declines in energy and financial shares, as the lift in market sentiment provided by a more dovish U.S. Federal Reserve tone was undercut by concern over the Greek debt crisis.
The S&P/TSX composite index faltered 22.04 points to greet noon at 14,710.94
The Canadian dollar shot higher 0.47 cents to 82.24 cents U.S.
The mining-heavy materials group was up, with Goldcorp Inc rising 2% to $20.77 and Barrick Gold up 1.7% at $14.37. The gold miners got a boost from more expensive bullion, which rallied on the Fed comments.
Energy companies opened higher, extending gains from the previous two sessions, but quickly reversed course as crude oil prices pared earlier advances.
Suncor Energy Inc fell 0.9% to $34.16, while Toronto-Dominion Bank dipped 0.5% to $53.59.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that there were 521,300 people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in April, up only 0.5% from March and down 0.4% from 12 months earlier.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 3.4 points to 684.97.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, with health-care surging 1.4%, real-estate soaring 1.2%, and gold jumping 1.1%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by information technology and the mining and metals sectors, each down 0.8%, while global base metals dipped 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded more than 1% higher on Thursday as the prior day's dovish Fed statement boosted investor sentiment amid lack of developments on the Greece debt talks.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved skyward 197.25 points, or 1.1%, to 18,132.99, with Boeing leading all blue chips higher.
The S&P 500 index gained 21.42 points to 2,121.86, with health-care leading all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ climbed 41.04 points to 5,105.92, to top its all-time record high of 5,132.52 set in intraday trade on March 10, 2000, during the tech bubble. The closing high for the NASDAQ is 5,106.59.
In corporate news, Oracle reported adjusted quarterly profit of 78 cents U.S. per share, eight cents below Street forecasts. Revenue also missed estimates, with the software maker hurt by a stronger dollar. It did, however, see sales growth in its cloud-based offerings.
Apple is generating sizable profits from sales of Apple Watch bands, according to data seen by Reuters. Many buyers of the watch are buying more than one band, according to data provided by research firm Slice Intelligence.
Barclays downgraded Southwest Airlines stock to underweight from overweight, saying the stock is now trading at too large a premium to its peers.
Economically speaking, the May consumer price index showed an increase of 0.4%, its largest increase in more than two years as gasoline prices surged.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 267,000 for a larger-than-expected decline.
The Philadelphia Fed index for June posted 15.2, above May's read of 6.7.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries lagged, raising yields to 2.35% from Wednesday’s 2.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices climbed 35 cents a barrel to $60.27 U.S.
Gold prices leaped $27.50 at $1,204.30 U.S. an ounce.
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