Equities in Toronto held onto their gains, with the clock approaching noon ET on Thursday as resource stocks broadly gained and financial and consumer names pulled back.
The S&P/TSX Composite advanced 22.25 points to greet noon at 15,328.14
The Canadian dollar lurched lower 0.57 cents to 74.22 cents U.S.
Insurers were among the heaviest weights, with Manulife Financial down 0.6% to $24.46 and Sun Life Financial off 0.4% to $52.16.
The most influential gainers on the index included Suncor Energy, up 1% to $44.42, and pipeline company Enbridge, which advanced 1% to $57.19.
Telecoms climbed, with Rogers Communications up 0.6% to $51.80 and Quebecor adding 0.4% to $37.53.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, climbed the charts as Barrick Gold gained 1.4% to $19.25.
BlackBerry declined 1% to $9.68, extending losses since it reported quarterly earnings on Tuesday.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported November’s consumer price index rose 1.2% on a year-over-year basis in November, following a 1.5% increase in October. On a seasonally- adjusted monthly basis, the CPI was down 0.2% in November, after increasing 0.2% in October.
The agency also says retail sales rose for the third consecutive month, rising 1.1% to $45.0 billion in October. Higher sales at gasoline stations and general merchandise stores mostly fueled the gain.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange pointed upward 0.51 points to 719
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, as health-care sprouted 1.7%, gold hiked 1.1%, while telecoms improved 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by information technology, skidding 0.4%, consumer staples fading 0.3%, and real-estate off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Thursday as investors parsed through a series of economic data, while the Dow Jones industrial average struggled to reach a key psychological level.
The Dow fell 49.5 points to 19,892.46, with Wal-Mart leading decliners and Verizon the biggest riser.
The S&P 500 lost 8.23 points to 2,256.95, with real-estate leading nine sectors lower and energy and telecommunications the only advancers.
The NASDAQ composite index subtracted 35.89 points to 5,435.54
U.S. initial jobless claims jumped to 275,000 last week, with economists expecting those numbers to total 256,000. Durable goods orders for November fell 4.6% last month, less than expected.
Meanwhile, the final read on third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product came in at 3.5%, above the expected 3.2%.
Personal income remained flat in November while consumer spending increased modestly.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note sidled lower, raising yields to 2.55% from Wednesday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 41 cents to $52.90 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $1.60 to $1,131.60 U.S. an ounce.
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