Canada’s pre-eminent stock gauge enjoyed its sixth straight rally Thursday, placing itself higher into positive territory for 2016 so far. This, as beaten-down energy and mining shares continued a rebound amid a rising resource prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 105.72 points to conclude Thursday at 13,123.65, pushing the six-day gain to 3.1%.
The surge has erased a loss for the year that reached almost 10% in February.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.1 cents to 74.64 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources surged $2.68, or 8.9%, to $32.85, the highest level this year. The energy producer lowered its 2016 capital budget about 22%, now targeting spending of $3.5 billion to $3.9 billion this year, down from as much as $5 billion in November.
Canadian Natural also reported an 89% decline in fourth-quarter profit.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. fell $3.85, or 4.2%, to $86.91. Valeant’s head of U.S. dermatology products is departing the company, a move the drug maker said is unrelated to any action taken by an ad hoc board committee probing Valeant’s dealings with a controversial mail-order pharmacy.
Shares of Valeant have plunged 74% from an August high amid intense scrutiny from investors and lawmakers over its pricing practices.
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc was up $1.45, or 3.3%, to $45.51, after posting a better-than-expected adjusted fourth-quarter profit and said it saw profit growth at its core engineering and construction business in 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 6.67 points to 552.90
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, with gold advancing 3.3%, energy 2.9%, and materials 2.7%
The two laggards were consumer staples, sliding 0.6%, and telecoms, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border traded in a range Thursday, holding much of the week's gains ahead of Friday's jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrial average recovered 44.58 points to 16,943.90, with Caterpillar contributing the most to gains and McDonald's the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 slipped 6.94 points to 1,993.39, as energy traded more 0.5% higher to lead advancers. Health-care was the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ index regained four points to 4,707.42, as Microsoft and biotechs weighed.
Stocks held most of their gains for the week so far despite narrowly mixed trade intraday Thursday. As of Wednesday's close, the major U.S. averages were on pace for weekly gains of 1.5% or more.
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing survey for February came in at 53.4. The figure was expected at 53, down from 53.5 in January.
Elsewhere on the economic beat, January factory orders rose 1.6%. Durable goods orders were revised slightly lower show a rise of 4.7%, versus the prior 4.9% increase.
The final February Markit services PMI was 49.7, down from January's final 53.2 print
Ahead of the opening bell, weekly jobless claims came in at 278,000. Revised fourth-quarter productivity declined 2.2%, while unit labour costs rose 3.3%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained back lost ground, lowering yields to 1.83% from Wednesday’s 1.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were positive one cent a barrel to $34.67 U.S.
Gold prices grew $22.47 to $1,262.45 U.S. an ounce.
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