Canada's main stock index was little changed on Thursday as the financial and industrial groups climbed, while shares of energy and marijuana producers pared some recent gains.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stayed buoyant 26.27 points to greet noon Thursday at 16,397.82
The Canadian dollar gained 0.18 cents to 79.88 cents U.S.
The heavyweight financials group rose as bond yields climbed after data showing a stronger-than-expected gain in U.S. private employment.
Manulife Financial Corp advanced 1.5% to $26.56.
Higher yields reduce the value of insurance companies' liabilities and increase net interest margins of banks.
Industrials firmed, with Waste Connections up 1.2% at $87.86 after two analysts raised their price target on the stock.
The biggest gainer on the index was Prometic Life Sciences, which rose 8.5% to $1.53.
The energy group, which had rallied as much as 11.9%, since mid-December, fell Thursday as Encana was down 2.3% at $16.91.
The largest decliner on the TSX was Aphria Inc, down 10.3% at $19.25. Another marijuana producer, Canopy Growth, fell 9.9% to $32.34.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index increased 1.4% in November, mainly attributable to higher prices for energy and petroleum products, while its raw materials price index rose 5.5%, primarily due to higher prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back much of what it had gained this short week, dumping 16.2 points, or 1.8%, to 873.74
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, with financial and industrials up 0.5%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, sliding 5.9%, while energy and utilities each backtracked 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average broke above 25,000 for the first time on Thursday, marking the fastest 1,000-point move in its history, following the release of stronger-than-expected jobs data
The blue-chip index roared ahead 151.04 points to 25,073.72, with DowDuPont, IBM and American Express rising more than 2%.
The S&P 500 acquired 13.06 points to 2,726.13, with financials rising 1.1%
The NASDAQ composite index gained 18.74 points to 7,084.27. Both indexes also hit all-time highs.
In corporate news, Tesla released fourth-quarter auto delivery numbers that fell short of many Wall Street estimates. The stock traded 0.7% lower.
The U.S. private sector added 250,000 jobs in December, ADP and Moody's Analytics reported before the opening bell. Economists had expected a gain of 190,000.
Other economic data released Thursday include the IHS Markit services PMI, which hit a seven-month low. These reports will be followed by the U.S. Labor Department's monthly jobs report, which is set for release on Friday.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note eased slightly, raising yields to 2.47% from Wednesday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 35 cents a barrel to $61.98 U.S.
Gold prices gained $2.10 to $1,320.60 U.S. an ounce.
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