Equities in Canada’s largest market fought their way toward the end saw Wednesday by the end of Thursday’s session, powered largely by gains in the information technology and consumer sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell just short of breakeven by 4.49 points to close Thursday at 16,307.73
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.15 cents to 76.34 cents U.S.
Tech stocks proved kings of the hill Thursday, as Shopify rocketed $15.16, or 4%, to $394.61, while Kinaxis popped $1.74, or 2.2%, to $80.83.
In the consumer staples sector, Empire Co rose $1.11, or 5.8%, to $33.16, after the grocery store chain reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Alimentation Couche-Tard picked up $1.59, or 1.9%, to 83.43.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Canada Goose Holdings took flight $1.41, or 3%, to $49.11, while The Stars Group picked up a dollar, or 4.7%, to $22.24.
On the negative side, energy stocks conked out by the closing bell, with Arc Resources sank 48 cents, or 6.8%, to $6.48, while Kelt Exploration docked 30 cents, or 7%, to $3.98
Among gold issues, Centerra Gold was bludgeoned 56 cents, or 5.8%, to $9.03, while Alacer Gold was down 14 cents, or 3.1%, to $4.33.
Materials also withered in the summer heat, as Fortuna Silver Mines doffed 12 cents, or 3.1%, to $3.77, while Endeavour Mining weakened 56 cents, or 2.6%, to $20.96.
On the economic blotter, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,023 in April, up 0.7% from March.
Compared with 12 months earlier, earnings grew by 2.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was unchanged from Wednesday’s finish at 580.05
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive, with information technology climbing 1.6%, while consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks gaining 1.3% each.
The five laggards were weighed by energy, down 2.5%, gold, off 0.7%, and materials, weaker by 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose on Thursday, powered by bank shares, as investors await trade clues from an upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ditched 10.24 points at 26,526.58, as Boeing shares weighed down the 30-stock index.
The S&P 500 gained 11.14 points to 2,924.92, snapping a four-day losing streak, as the financials sector gained nearly 1%.
The NASDAQ Composite strengthened 57.79 points to 7,967.76
Citigroup shares led the big banks higher, climbing 1.4%. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo all closed more than 1% higher.
J.P. Morgan Chase rose 0.3%. Bank stocks rose ahead of the Federal Reserve’s stress-test results release, which is scheduled for later on Thursday.
Walgreens shares climbed 4.1% after the pharmacy operator reported better-than-expected quarterly results. The company’s numbers were driven by higher prescription drug sales, according to CEO Stefano Pessina.
Boeing shares fell 2.9% after the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it has found an issue with the 737 Max that the planemaker must address before it lifts the national grounding order.
On the data front, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at a solid rate of 3.1% in the first quarter. But some components like consumer spending and business investments grew at a slower pace than previously estimated.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan on Saturday. The two leaders are expected to discuss trade, with investors looking for clues on whether China and the U.S. can make progress towards ending their ongoing trade war.
China and the U.S. have been in a trade war for more than a year. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. China has retaliated with tariffs on U.S. products. An agreement between Trump and Xi at the G-20 summit in Japan would avert the next round of tariffs on additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, felling yields to 2.01% from Wednesday’s 2.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost eight cents to $59.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $3.40 to $1,412 U.S. an ounce.
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