Equities in Canada’s largest centre rose slightly in early trade on Thursday, helped by gains in energy stocks on stronger oil prices and continued strength in construction company SNC-Lavalin's shares.
The TSX Composite Index eked higher 6.02 points to begin the day Thursday at 17,038
The Canadian dollar was flat at 76.24 cents U.S.
Endeavour Mining urged Centamin to seek an extension for a deadline by which it needs to make a firm offer to buy the London-listed miner.
Aurora Cannabis this week became the first major Canadian company to sell edibles and vapes for medical use, a small base that nevertheless helps shore up margins and paves the way for sales in the much larger European medical
market.
CIBC raised the price target on SNC-Lavalin Group to $36.00 from $29.00,
Cannacord Genuity raised the price target on Teranga Gold to $11.50 from $9.00
Deutsche Bank raised the price target on TMX Group to $129 from $121
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported wholesale sales declined 1.1% to $64.2 billion in October, the second decrease in five months.
Also, the average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,042 in October, little changed from September. Compared with October 2018, earnings grew 3.3%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 1.96 points to 540.67
The 12 subgroups were split evenly, as health-care gained 1%, while communications and energy pumped higher 0.4% each.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, down 0.3%, while industrials and materials each dropped 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday as investors looked past the news of President Donald Trump’s impeachment as well as mixed U.S. economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials advanced 53.85 points to begin trading at 28.293.13
The S&P 500 recovered 4.93 points to 3,196.07
The NASDAQ added 19.39 points to Wednesday’s all-time record, at 8,847.12.
The S&P 500 is up nearly 7% since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry in September.
Cisco Systems was the best-performing Dow component, rising 1.6%. The consumer staples and real estate sectors led the S&P 500 higher, gaining 0.4% each. Micron Technology shares also contributed to Thursday’s move higher. Conagra shares surged more than 14% and were on pace for their biggest one-day gain since Oct. 16, 1989.
Micron shares climbed 3.5% on the back of strong quarterly results. The chipmaker posted earnings per share and revenue that topped analyst expectations.
On the economic data front, weekly jobless claims fell to 234,000 from 252,000 the week before. However, economists expected claims to fall to 225,000.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s business conditions index fell to 0.3 in December from 10.4 in the previous month. Economists expected the index to slip to 8.
The Democrat-led House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump became only the third president to be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors and will now face a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury were lower, raising yields to 1.94% from Wednesday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained seven cents to $61.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved forward $1.80 at $1,480.50 U.S. an ounce.
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