Stocks came down from the highs of the day Thursday, but surfaced above the breakeven point, on strength or resource stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tenaciously clung to gains of 2.95 points, to conclude Thursday at 14,833.69.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.85 cents to 71.41 cents U.S.
Gold proved the strongest sector on Bay Street, with Alacer Gold vaulting 48 cents, or 6.3%, to $8.09, while Torex Gold Resources jumped 84 cents, or 4.4%, to $20.00.
Among other resource concerns, First Quantum Minerals climbed 54 cents, or 6.7%, to $8.59, while MAG Silver popped $1.23, or 7.7%, to $17.17.
Energy shares kept rolling as well, with Cenovus increasing in price 30 cents, or 6% to $5.33, while Tourmaline Oil gathered 65 cents, or 4.8%, to $14.25.
Health-care weighed things down, however, as Bausch Health Companies faded $2.10, or 8.7%, to $22.18, while Aurora Cannabis let go of three cents, or 3%, to 96 cents.
In the utilities field, Fortis lost $1.46, or 2.7%, to $52.97, while Boralex surrendered 35 cents, or 1.2%, to $29.30.
In consumer staples, Empire Company docked 93 cents, or 3%, to $29.95, while Saputo slid 91 cents, or 2.6%, to $34.15.
Western University’s IVEY School of Business put out its Purchasing Managers’ Index for April, and revealed the index fell yet again to 22.8 from March's reading of 26, and way down from April 2019's level of 55.9.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.4 points to 488.22.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, with gold shining 2.9% brighter, while materials and energy each strengthened 1.8%.
The half-dozen laggards were loaded down by health-care, sliding 2.2%, utilities, off 0.8%, and consumer staples, down 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite rose for a fourth straight day on Thursday, clawing back its steep losses for the year, as tech shares added to their recent strong gains while investors mounted bets on the U.S. economy reopening soon.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell off the alpine highs of the day, but closed positive 193.46 points, or 0.8%, to 23,858.10.
The S&P 500 advanced 32.77 points, or 1.2%, to 2,881.19.
The tech-heavy index NASDAQ traded higher by 125.77, or 1.4%, to 8,579.66, as Apple shares gained 1%. Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet rose as well. For the year, it closed up nearly 0.1%.
Thursday marked the first time one of the major averages was up year to date since the coronavirus pandemic led to the closure of non-essential businesses, sparking massive layoffs and a historic market selloff.
In corporate news, Peloton reported revenues surged 66% during its fiscal third quarter as more Americans bought fitness equipment for at-home use during the coronavirus pandemic.
Critically, Peloton said it is seeing demand from new customers who’ve been inspired to buy one of its bikes amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Peloton shares rose 16%.
Stocks that would benefit from the reopening of the economy also gained in early trading, including Hilton Worldwide and MGM Resorts.
Hilton traded 1.6% higher while MGM gained 7.3%. Carnival traded more than 5% higher while Norwegian Cruise Line gained 7.91%.
Thursday’s gains came even as another 3.17 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the seven-week total to 33.5 million. But while jobless claims continue to rise, last week’s tally was the lowest since shortly after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.
States such as California and New York have unveiled plans to gradually reopen the economy. Other states, including Georgia, have already let some nonessential businesses resume operations.
Meanwhile, China posted better-than-expected exports for April. Data from the General Administration of Customs released on Thursday showed exports rose 3.5% in April, versus expectations of a 15.7% decrease from economists.
Recent data out of China, where the earliest cases of the coronavirus were reported, have been closely watched by investors as the country was one of the first to ease lockdown measures
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 0.64% from Wednesday’s 0.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 77 cents to $23.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices leaped $38.40 to $1,726.90 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
