Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index ended the day by nosing out a gain of 14.94 points to 13,166.94.
The loonie was up 0.11 cents to 98.98 cents U.S.
A major, early advancer was yoga retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. Its stock ran ahead 14 per cent to $64.04 after it reported that profits surged in the third-quarter on higher sales, surpassing analyst expectations.
The Vancouver-based company’s net profit rose to $25.9 million U.S. or 36 cents a share, compared with earnings of $14.1 million or 20 cents a share for the same year-earlier period.
The consensus estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters was for 25 cents net earnings per diluted share.
Third-quarter revenue increased 56 per cent to $175.8 million.
Among oil issues, Canadian Natural Resources rose 47 cents to $42.54.
Shares in Cenovus Energy Inc. moved down 47 cents to $31.07 as it said it will invest about $2 billion into its oil sands projects in 2011, with average oil production targeted to rise 2%.
The base metal sector was ahead with the March copper contract on the Nymex ahead a penny to $4.12 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources rose 70 cents to $56.25.
The gold sector also ran ahead asGoldcorp Inc. gained 39 cents to $46.35.
All sectors save information technology were positive as CIBC rose 53 cents to $77.98, Rogers Communications up 19 cents to $35.63 and Canadian Pacific Railway ahead 54 cents to $65.04.
In other corporate news, retailer Dollarama said after the markets closed Wednesday that one of its major shareholders has agreed to sell about half of its holdings in the company for $324.8 million.
The Montreal-based retailer, which will not receive any money from the secondary sale of its shares by Bain Capital, said that a syndicate of underwriters would pay $29 per share. Earlier in the day, the company had issued a quarterly earnings report that beat expectations. On Thursday, its shares were down 27 cents to $28.81.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported its New Housing Price Index rose 0.1% in October following a 0.2% advance in September. The top contributors to the monthly increase in October were Toronto and Oshawa, as well as Vancouver.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 10.04 points to 2,595.28, while the Nasdaq Canada index eked out a gain of 0.51 points to 760.28
In Toronto, 10 of the 14 subgroups were higher to end the day. Metals and mining tied with their cousins among global base metals, gaining 1% each, while materials were 0.4% to the better.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by health-care issues, down 0.9%, while telecoms were off 0.4%, and real-estate stocks were down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities ended mixed Thursday as a stronger dollar dragged on commodity-related companies, while financials and tech shares firmed.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaned downward by 2.42 points to end Thursday at 11,370.10
The S&P 500 moved up 4.72 points to 1,233.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7.51 points to 2,611.67.
Bank of America and JPMorgan were among the best performers on the Dow, adding to the previous session's gains. Bank stocks had lagged the broader market earlier this year, but investors are regaining some appetite for financials as economic conditions improve.
DuPont was the Dow's weakest component, falling 1.3%. The chemical company issued a 2011 outlook that disappointed investors. Consumer stocks McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson also tumbled.
Stocks opened modestly higher after government data showed an improvement in the number of jobless claims being filed. But the momentum faded as a stronger dollar pressured commodities prices, and weighed down shares of companies like Boeing and 3M
Investors are also awaiting the final word from Washington on the extension of Bush-era tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year, he added.
House Democrats voted Thursday against considering the tax package, which would also extend unemployment benefits and create a payroll tax holiday.
The choppy trading Thursday follows a big advance last week, which pushed the Dow and S&P 500 near their highest levels in two years.
Shares of AIG jumped 13% after the insurance giant finalized the terms of the latest restructuring of the giant insurer's federal bailout.
Howard Stern announced that he has re-signed with SiriusXM Radio for five years, sending Sirius' stock rising 6.5% in early trade.
Tech giant Dell made a bid for Compellent Technologies Inc. for $27.50 U.S. a share -- well below the $33.65 U.S. per share the data storage company closed at on Wednesday. Shares of
Compellent fell 14%, while shares of Dell were little changed.
Freeport-McMoRan announced plans to pay a special dividend of $1 U.S. per share this year. The copper and gold producer also declared a two-for-one split of its common stock.
After the market closed, Green Mountain Coffee reported fourth-quarter net income of $27 million U.S., or 20 cents U.S. per share, up from $14.1 million U.S., or 11 cents U.S. per share, in the same period last year. Analysts had expected earnings per share of 20 cents U.S, according to estimates from Thomson Financial.
But shares of Green Mountain fell nearly 10% in after-hours trading as investors reacted to the company's outlook for next year. Green Mountain lowered the bottom end of its forecast range by three cents U.S., citing "expected volatility in coffee prices and flexibility to support anticipated new product launches."
On the economic calendar, the number of people filing for initial jobless claims fell 17,000 to 421,000 in the latest week from 436,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in its most weekly jobless claims report. Economists had expected the number to decrease to 429,000.
The four-week moving average, which is calculated to smooth out volatility in the data, fell by 4,000 to 427,500.
Separately, the Commerce Department said wholesale inventories rose 1.9% in October, following a revised 0.6% increase for September. The October gain was much larger than the 0.7% gain economists had expected.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, dropping the yield to 3.22% from Wednesday’s 3.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil dipped 17 cents a barrel to $88.52 U.S.
The February bullion contract finished the day ahead $7.00 to $1,390.20 U.S. an ounce.
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