Equities in Canada’s biggest centre rose at the open on Thursday, with most of the index's key sectors advancing, as the latest economic data showed the country's trade deficit narrowed more than expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index opened Thursday moved higher 88.56 points to 13,633.81
The Canadian dollar gained 0.22 cents to 75.59 cents U.S.
Canadian Oil Sands says Canada's largest synthetic crude project will return to normal operations toward the end of September, its operator said late on Wednesday, confirming market talk of an extended outage after last weekend's fire.
The Company said the Syncrude venture, which produced 326,000 barrels per day of synthetic crude in July, will operate with "minimal synthetic crude oil shipments and operating rates" for the next two weeks as part of a phased recovery. Oil Sands shares dipped two cents to $6.76.
Police and Ministry of Labour officials in Ontario are investigating the death of an employee at Detour Gold’s mine in June, the company said on Wednesday. Local media reported that Ontario police are looking into the June 3 death of Denis Millette, 52, a millwright at the Detour Lake mine. Millette was making repairs to equipment inside the mine when it was noticed that he was in "medical distress," media reports said.
Detour shares fell four cents to $13.15.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Laurentian Bank to $52.00 from $51.00 following the bank’s better-than-expected third-quarter EPS. Laurentian shares acquired 36 cents to $48.08.
CIBC cut the target price on Sears Canada to $11.00 from $13.00 after the company announced a disappointing quarter. Sears shares were unchanged at $8.47.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the country’s exports rose 2.3% in July, focused mostly on non-energy products.
Imports were up 1.7%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $811 million in June to $593 million in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 0.4 points to at 549.65
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher, as metals and mining rocketed 4.1%, global base metals strengthened 2.1%, and energy powered 1% higher
The two laggards were in information technology, down 0.2%, and gold, off 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher Thursday, attempting to extend the recent recovery as investors found encouragement from news of continued stimulus in Europe and good U.S. data.
The Dow Jones industrial average hiked 105.10 points to 16,456.48, with Visa leading advancers and Apple and Caterpillar the only decliners.
The S&P 500 picked up 15.04 points to 1,963.90, with health care leading all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ index added 27.28 points to 4,777.25
Earnings out before the open included Medtronic, Campbell Soup and Joy Global. Cooper Cos. earnings come after the close.
The only S&P 500 name left to report second-quarter earnings is Kroger, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 11.
Weekly jobless claims rose to 282,000. The overall U.S. July trade gap narrowed to $41.86 billion U.S, the smallest in five months, while the U.S.-China trade deficit in July increased slightly to $31.58 billion from $31.46 billion U.S. in June, Reuters reported.
The flow of top-tier releases also continues, ahead of Friday's key jobs report. The August ISM non-manufacturing index came in at 59.0 in August, slightly below July's 60.3 read.
The ISM non-manufacturing index was expected to slip back slightly from July's elevated reading of 60.3, which was the highest in almost a decade, to about 58, still very high by both recent and historical standards according to analysts.
Investors also digested the latest Challenger, Gray & Christmas jobs cut report, which showed that job cuts announced by U.S.-based companies plummeted 61% in August after rising to a four-year high the previous month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries eked upward, lowering yields to 2.17% from Wednesday’s 2.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 64 cents a barrel to $46.89 U.S.
Gold prices slid $9.10 to $1,124.50 U.S. an ounce.
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