Equities in Canada’s biggest centre gained on Thursday, with banking stocks leading the way a day after the central bank cut rates, while auto parts maker Magna International rose after it said it would buy a German peer.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved forward 69.95 points to greet noon at 14,732.73
The Canadian dollar lost 0.15 cents at 77.28 cents U.S.
The most influential boosts included Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 1.2% to $78.19, and Toronto-Dominion Bank, which advanced 1% to $53.24.
The biggest weights included Barrick Gold Corp, which slumped 4.1% to $11.96, and First Quantum Minerals, which gave up 5.3% to $14.80.
Shares in Magna jumped early before settling up around 0.4% at $72.46 after the automotive parts maker said it would buy privately-owned German car parts maker Getrag for 1.75 billion euros ($1.9 billion) to expand its automotive transmission systems business.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $5.4 billion in May, led by a divestment in equities. Meanwhile, Canadian investors added $5.6 billion of foreign securities to their portfolios, mainly corporate securities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.41 points to 641.10
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher by noon time, with health-care and financial stocks each up 1%, while information technology issues improved 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed most by metals and mining, sinking 2.2%, with materials fading 0.9%, and gold dulling 0.8% in price.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday as investors focused on earnings beats amid progress towards near-term resolution in the Greek debt crisis
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 44.06 points to 18,094.23, with IBM leading advancers and UnitedHealth leading decliners.
The S&P 500 gained 13.94 points to 2,121.34, with telecommunications leading nine sectors higher and materials the only decliner.
The NASDAQ index triumphed 52.53 points to 5,151.47, with Netflix, eBay, Stericycle and Micron jumping nearly 3% or more
Corporate results after the bell Wednesday were strong. Netflix surged more than 16 percent to an all-time high after reporting solid subscriber growth that topped expectations. The video streaming site also posted earnings that beat estimates on revenue that barely missed forecasts.
Intel also jumped 2% after beating on both the top and bottom lines in its second-quarter earnings report.
Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Blackstone, Charles Schwab, UnitedHealth, eBay and Phillip Morris were among the firms reporting second-quarter earnings before the market open.
Google, Schlumberger, Mattel, Advanced Micro, Celanese and Cintas are expected to report after the closing bell.
Before the market open, Citigroup continued the trend of relatively strong performance in financials so far. The bank delivered quarterly results that topped analysts' expectations on both the top and bottom lines, for the largest quarterly profit in eight years.
Goldman Sachs posted quarterly earnings that fell sharply from the previous year, hit by a large litigation charge. The investment bank did top revenue estimates but missed significantly on earnings per share.
In economic news, U.S. weekly jobless claims came in at 281,000, better than the 285,000 estimate.
The Philadelphia Fed survey came in at 5.7 for July, off June's 15.2 read. The NAHB survey showed U.S. homebuilder sentiment hit a 10-year high.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen concludes her two-day testimony to Congress with remarks to the Senate Banking Committee in the afternoon. On Wednesday, Yellen reiterated recent comments that interest rates are likely to rise this year.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 2.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 25 cents a barrel to $51.66 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $4.70 at $1,142.70 U.S. an ounce.
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