Stocks in Canada’s biggest market gained in early trade on Thursday, boosted by the shares of a string of companies that beat earnings expectations, including Barrick Gold and Cenovus Energy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered 26.59 points to begin Thursday’s trading at 15,197.98
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.24 cents to 80.09 cents U.S.
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan reported better-than-expected revenue on Thursday as it sold more potash at higher prices compared with last year.
Potash shares jumped 30 cents, or 1.4%, to $22.26.
Crescent Point Energy Corp posted a quarterly profit, compared with a year-earlier loss, helped by higher realized oil prices and an increase in production.
Crescent Point shares popped 31 cents, or 3.2%, to $10.14.
Cenovus on Thursday reported a profit in the second quarter compared to a year-ago loss, helped by its purchase of ConocoPhillips' Canadian oil sands assets.
Cenovus shares gained 40 cents, or 4%, to $10.35.
Barrick shares shined 67 cents, or 3.3%, to $20.85.
Raymond James cut the price target on AGT Food and Ingredients to $32.00 from $35.00. AGT shares picked up four cents to $25.90.
RBC cut the rating on First National Financial to underperform from sector perform. First National erased half a cent to $64.5 cents.
GMP raised the target price on PrairieSky Royalty to $31.00 from $30.00. PrairieSky inched higher one cent to $30.60.
On things macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees registered at $972 in May, virtually unchanged from April but up 2.0% from 12 months earlier.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.88 points to 772.08.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, as energy gushed 1%, materials were stronger 0.8% and telecoms climbed 0.5%.
The three laggards were real-estate, down 0.4%, utilities were off 0.2%, and information technology was down 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities opened higher on Thursday as the tech sector was lifted by strong earnings from key companies.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 56.02 points to 21,767.03, and hit intraday records, with Boeing contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 picked up 2.43 points to 2,480.26, improving on Wednesday’s all-time high, with telecommunications and technology leading advancers.
The NASDAQ added to Wednesday’s all-time high, gaining 22.2 points to 6,444.43
Shares of Facebook jumped more than 4% in early trade. The social media giant reported second-quarter earnings per share of $1.32 on revenue of $9.32 billion. Analysts expected the company to post earnings per share of $1.13 on sales of $9.2 billion. The company also reported better-than-expected monthly active users, a key metric for Facebook.
Facebook's stock is one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 this year, having gained 44%.
PayPal also reported quarterly results that beat expectations, sending the mobile payments company's stock 3.5% higher before the bell.
Tech has been the champion of the U.S. stock market this year. The sector has spiked 23% in 2017, outdistancing other sectors.
In economic news, initial jobless claims came in at 244,000, slightly above the expected 240,000. Durable goods orders, meanwhile, rose 6.5% in June.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slumped, raising yields to 2.31% from Wednesday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained eight cents to $48.83 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices advanced $13.70 to $1,263.10 U.S. an ounce.
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