The latest moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve to break a logjam in lending and lower borrowing rates sent the Toronto stock market higher for an eighth session.
However, New York markets were weak after racking up strong gains for six of the past seven sessions after the U.S. central bank said Wednesday that it would pump more than $1 trillion U.S. into the economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 74.14 to 8,703.24, adding up to a surge of more than a thousand points in just over a week.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada says Canada's annual inflation rate rose to 1.4% in February from 1.1% the previous month. This was the first increase in the cost of living in five months.
As the rally in Toronto continued, leadership switched from the financial sector, which surged 28% over seven sessions, to commodity stocks.
Hopes the Fed action will also blunt the effects of a global recession sent oil prices higher.
The Toronto energy sector gained as Suncor Inc. climbed $2.49 to $33.69 and EnCana Corp. rose $3.05 to $53.63.
The base metals sector gained as copper prices ran ahead nine cents to $1.80 U.S. a pound.
Teck Cominco Ltd. surged 88 cents or 17.6% to $5.88 and FNX Mining improved 63 cents to $5.36.
The dramatic move by the U.S. central bank stoked worries about higher inflation and that helped send the TSX gold sector up and Barrick Gold Corp. rose 94 cents to $40.79 and Goldcorp Inc. was ahead $1.69 to $41.29.
The financial sector was the main decliner, as TD Bank declined $1.07 to $41.99 and Scotiabank fell 66 cents to $31.61.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.52 cents to 80.76 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, seven were lower, real-estate stocks down 2.9%, followed by financials, off 2.7% and consumer staples, down 2.3%.
Metals and mining went skyward to lead the six subgroups in the black, advancing 9% in just one day. Materials were next, at 4.5%, while energy stocks improved 4.2%
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 37.86 points higher, at 903.57, while the Nasdaq Canada index was 15.30 points up, at 436.04.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials average decreased 85.78 points to 7,400.80. The much-broader S&P 500 subsided 10.31 points to 784.04, while the tech-laden Nasdaq fell 7.74 points to 1,483.84
The Fed's moves are aimed at driving down borrowing costs for everything from mortgages to credit cards.
The U.S. central bank also plans to buy some $750 billion U.S. in mortgage-backed securities, which would help revive the country's sagging housing market.
The move - which economists call "quantitative easing" - is aimed at effectively reducing market interest rates since the Fed's key rate, the federal funds rate, has been ratcheted down as low as it can go.
On the economic front, the U.S. Labor Department said the number of initial requests for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 646,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 658,000, better than economists' expectations.
The news was somewhat mixed though, as the number of people filing for more than a week set a new record for the eighth straight week, jumping 185,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 5.47 million.
Shares in business software firm Oracle Corp. were ahead $1.91 to $17.74 U.S. after the company said it earned $1.33 billion U.S. in its third quarter versus $1.34 billion U.S. in the year-ago period. It also declared its first dividend, a surprise move that came as other bellwethers cut or suspend their dividends to save money.
Autos and auto parts makers gained after the Treasury Department said it is providing a $5-billion bailout of auto suppliers, which have been hit hard by the slump in the automaker industry. GM jumped 12% on the news. Parts makers American Axle Lear and ArvinMeritor gained as well.
Treasury prices gained, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.50% from 2.54% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The April crude contract on the Nymex jumped $3.08 to $51.22 U.S. a barrel.
The April bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange surged $69.70 to $958.80 U.S. an ounce.
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