The Toronto stock market headed slightly higher Thursday, as investors took in some reports that gave them cause to feel somewhat better about prospects for the global economy.
The S&P TSX Composite Index had garnered 36.10 points by the closing bell to 11,433.37
Barrick Gold Corp. faded $1.56 to $44.41 and Goldcorp Inc. lost $1.05 to $42.30.
The TSX energy sector was ahead as the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange ran ahead. The American Petroleum Institute reported late Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories plunged 7.3 million barrels last week, much more than the drop of 3.5 million barrels forecast in an analyst survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Inventories of gasoline and distillates also fell, the API said. On Thursday, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration reported inventories fell by five million barrels.
On the TSX, Canadian Natural Resources climbed 87 cents to $36.69 while EnCana Corp. gained 90 cents to $34.06.
The base metals sector rose as the September copper contract on the Nymex lost early traction and was unchanged at $3.01 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources was ahead 79 cents to $34.44 while Ivanhoe Mines were down 24 cents to $14.31.
In corporate news, shares in telecom equipment maker DragonWave Inc. tumbled 89 cents, or 15.2% to $4.95 after saying it expects lower second quarter revenue. Its key customer has been American firm Clearwire.
But it said Thursday that three-quarters of its projected $25 million in revenue in the second fiscal quarter will come from customers other than Clearwire. Revenue in the most recent quarter was $48.7 million.
Cott Corp., Canada’s biggest soft-drink maker, is acquiring a major American private-label juice company for more than half a billion dollars. Cott has signed an agreement to acquire privately owned Cliffstar Corp., based in Dunkirk, N.Y. near Buffalo. Cott shares rallied 19 cents to $6.19.
Cogeco Cable Inc., Canada’s fourth-largest cable company, reported quarterly profit of $31.2 million, down slightly from $32.4 million a year ago. Revenue came in at $319.3 million, up from $305 million in the year-earlier period. Its shares declined 58 cents to $34.17.
In economic news, the IMF raised its 2010 world growth forecast to 4.6% from 4.2% in April. Notably, it raised its growth forecast for China to 10.5% from 10% in April, for Japan to 2.4% from 1.9% and for India to 9.4% from 8.8%.
Separately, the IMF said today that the Canadian economy is on track to grow more quickly this year than expected and upped its 2010 growth forecast for Canada to 3.6% from its earlier 3.1% in April.
Elsewhere, Statistics Canada said the New Housing Price Index rose 0.3% in May after identical increase in the prior two months. Notably, new house prices are close to their pre-recession levels from mid-2008.
The Canadian dollar tacked on 0.48 cents to 95.91 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
On the day, 10 of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher. Metals and mining galloped ahead 1.7%, while energy surged 1.1% and consumer staples were 0.7% to the good.
Gold slid 2%, while materials were off 0.6% and health-care stocks were 0.4% less robust.
The TSX Venture Exchange slid under the breakeven level by 8.47 points to 1,353.01 while the Nasdaq Canada index was down 1.98 points to 586.31.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, blue chips rallied Thursday, leading the broader market higher, as investors welcomed a bigger-than-expected drop in jobless claims and a rise in the euro.
The Dow Jones industrial average hurtled 120.71 points, 1.2%, to close at 10,138.99
The S&P 500 index tacked on 9.98 points to 1,070.25 The Nasdaq composite index gained 15.93 points to 2,175.40
Stocks had surged Wednesday after State Street's improved earnings forecast boosted financial shares, giving a lightly traded market a reason to rally. A stronger euro took the pressure off European debt worries.
The positive mood continued Thursday. The euro's rise to a two-month high versus the dollar, on some optimism about the results of European bank stress tests, also gave stocks some support.
Through the end of last week, the major stock indexes dropped more than 15% off the rally highs of late April as investors tried to price in the threat of a so-called double-dip recession.
While the selling seems to have tapered off in the short term, stocks remain vulnerable.
Gains were broad-based, with 27 of 30 Dow issues rising, led by consumer names Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and McDonald's. Other gainers included Caterpillar, 3M and Chevron
Merck said it was closing eight research and eight manufacturing plants as part of its restructuring following its merger with Schering-Plough.
Economically speaking, the Department of Labor released its weekly jobless claims report before the market open, showing that initial claims totaled 454,000 in the week ended July 3.
That was a decline of 21,000 claims from the prior week. It was also lower than the forecast from economists surveyed by Briefing.com, who expected that claims would total 460,000.
Elsewhere, sales at the nation's retailers rose for a 10th consecutive month in June, but the pace of consumer spending continues to slow after a burst in the early part of the year.
June same-store sales rose 3.1% versus forecasts for 3.2%, according to tracker Thomson Reuters.
Sales rose 2.5% in May and dropped 4.9% in the same month a year ago. The term 'same-store sales' is an industry metric that refers to stores open a year or more.
On the upside, department stores such as J.C. Penney, Nordstrom and Macy's all reported better-than-expected results, while Gap and BJ's Wholesale were among the losers.
The government's report on May consumer credit is due in the afternoon. Credit is expected to have fallen by $3 billion U.S. after rising by $1 billion U.S. in April.
Treasury prices were lower, raising yields on the 10-year note to 3.02% from Wednesday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil moved higher by $1.87 to $75.94 U.S.
Gold prices advanced three dollars to $1,199 U.S. an ounce.
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