Stocks in Toronto warmed to the momentum created by health-care and tech stocks, and climbed the charts to bring a fitting close to a very lucrative January.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 20.37 points to greet noon at 15,504.92
The Canadian dollar docked 0.01 cents to 76.07 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Eldorado Gold Corp, which jumped 90 cents, or 23.3%, to $4.76, after its decision to resume mining and heap leaching at Kisladag.
Methanex backpedaled $1.42, or 1.9%, among the biggest drops on the TSX, to $74.17, after its fourth-quarter results fell short of analysts' estimates.
Elsewhere, health-care stocks carried the morning, with Canopy Growth gaining 79 cents, or 1.3%, to $63.88, while Bausch Health Companies tacked on 50 cents, or 1.6%, to $32.27.
Among techs, Shopify screamed higher $6.44, or 3%, to $220.06.
Materials did well, as First Quantum Minerals muscled higher 93 cents, or 6.5%, to $15.16.
In other resource news, Alberta will ease its oil cut in February and March, earlier than expected, saying on Wednesday that its rare step to limit production had eased a glut of crude.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Thursday that Gross Domestic Product in this country edged down 0.1% in November, partly offsetting an increase of 0.3% in October.
As well, the agency’s industrial product price fell 0.7% in December, mainly due to lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index was up 3.8%, driven primarily by prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained afloat 1.98 points to 617.18
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green, led by health-care, stronger by 1.9%, information technology clicked 1.4% higher, while materials rumbled up 1.1%.
Only financial stocks were poorer by noon ET, doffing 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose on Thursday on the back of strong earnings from Facebook and General Electric. The index was also heading for its best January performance in more than 30 years.
The Dow Jones Industrials overcame a negative Thursday morning, and squeezed higher 4.66 points to 25,019.52, as losses in Microsoft and Dow DuPont kept gains in check.
The S&P 500 added 27.07 points, or 1%, to 2,708.12, led by the communications services and consumer staples sectors.
The S&P 500 is up about 7% this month and is on track to post its biggest January gain since 1989.
The NASDAQ Composite rocketed 117.55 points, or 1.6%, to 7,300.63, on strong Facebook earnings.
Microsoft fell 2% after the company reported weaker-than-expected revenue and earnings that barely beat expectations. The tech giant also issued quarterly earnings guidance that was lower than expected. DowDuPont, another Dow member, fell 8.4% on the back of mixed quarterly results. Tesla shares dipped 4% on the back of weaker-than-expected earnings. The company also said its CFO was leaving his post.
These results overshadowed strong earnings reactions from General Electric and Facebook. Shares of Facebook surged 10.5% after the company’s quarterly results easily topped expectations. GE shares jumped 9.3% on stronger-than-forecast revenue.
Thursday was the last day of the month and the S&P 500 was on pace to post its biggest monthly gain since October 2015. The surge this month follows a massive drop in December.
Last month, the S&P 500 fell 9.2% and briefly dipped into bear-market territory on an intraday basis on Christmas Eve. Since Dec. 24, however, stocks have been on a tear, with the S&P 500 rising about 14%.
The major indexes shot up on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it will be “patient” with raising rates moving forward
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed, lowering yields to 2.64% from Wednesday’s 2.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 94 cents to $55.17 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shone $9.90 brighter to $1,325.40 U.S. an ounce.
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