Stocks in Canada’s largest centre hung onto gains Thursday, after a disastrous Wednesday that saw heavy losses following the announcement of rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 21.13 points to close Thursday at 15,218.31
The Canadian dollar dropped 1.18 cents to 74.95 cents U.S.
Tech stocks led the way, with Constellation Software soaring $9.83, or 1.7%, to $590.84.
Bank stocks were also healthy, with TD hiking 74 cents, or 1.1%, to $66.51, while Manulife Financial up 64 cents, or 2.6%, to $25.01
Among industrials, Bombardier added four cents, or 2.1%, to $1.95.
Gold stocks were chief among losing subgroups, as Barrick Gold lost 86 cents, or 4.4%, to $18.68, while Goldcorp tailed off 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.26.
Materials stocks such as Tahoe Resources took a pasting of $1.09, or 8.6%, to $11.66.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales tailed off 0.8% to $51.0 billion in October, following two consecutive monthly gains. The agency attributes the largest decreases to the primary metal, petroleum and coal product, and machinery industries
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported that national home sales fell 5.3% from October to November. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity remained 1.6% above levels in November 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 11.14 points, or 1.5%, to 730.39
The 12 TSX subgroups were split evenly, as information technology and financials were co-leaders among gainers, picking up 0.9% each, while industrials increased 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 3.6%, materials, trailing 2.3%, and real-estate, off 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as a post-election rally resumed, while investors digested a slew of economic data and the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials was off its highs of the day, but still positive 59.71 points to 19,910.84, with Goldman Sachs leading advancers and Nike the top decliner.
The S&P 500 gained 8.75 points to 2,262.03, with financials leading nine sectors higher while consumer discretionary and real estate lagged.
The NASDAQ composite index took on 20.18 points to 5,456.85.
In economic news, the U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in November, in line with expectations. Weekly jobless claims, meanwhile, came in at 254,000. The Philadelphia Fed business index rose 21.5 in December, versus a November read of 7.6, while the Empire State manufacturing index rose to 9.0 in December from 1.5 in November.
Investors also digested manufacturing data from IHS Markit, with the December manufacturing PMI index coming in at 54.2, marginally above November's 54.1. A number above 50 indicates expansion within a sector.
The NAHB homebuilder sentiment index rose seven points to 70, easily beating expectations.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note moved lower, raising yields to 2.6% from Wednesday’s 2.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices squeezed higher three cents to $51.07 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $34.70 to $1,129 U.S. an ounce.
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