Equities in Canada’s largest market rose on Thursday, as energy stocks tracked gains in oil prices after U.S. inventories fell, and as optimism around fiscal stimulus in the United States boosted sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 37.09 points soon after Thursday’s opening bell to 17,953.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.27 cents to 77.95 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy posted a much smaller fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday, buoyed by significant cost-saving measures. Suncor shares backpedaled 61 cents, or 2.7%, to $21.63.
Scotiabank raised the price target on Exco Technologies to $12.00 from $9.00. Exco shares gained 25 cents, or 2.4%, to $10.72.
RBC raised the target price on ATS Automation Tooling Systems to $28.00 from $25.00. ATS shares picked up 69 cents, or 2.7%, to $26.69.
CIBC raised the target price on West Fraser Timber to $120.00 from $102.00. West Fraser shares picked up four cents to $85.53.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 2.2 points to 981.14.
The 12 TSX subgroups were half-and-half in the first hour, what with information technology acquiring 1.2%, while consumer discretionary and real-estate concerns each tacked on 0.8%.
The six laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling in price 2.5%, while materials scattered back 1.8%, and energy slumped 1.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, building on a three-day winning streak, as investors assessed a new batch of corporate earnings and economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 227.98 points to open Thursday at 30,951.58,
The S&P 500 took on 16.53 points to 3,846.70, supported by energy and financials.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 26.56.points to 13,610.54,
EBay jumped more than 10% after beating on both the top and bottom lines and issuing a rosier-than-expected forecast for the first quarter.
PayPal gained more than 6% after strong quarterly results, while Qualcomm slipped over 7% after reporting revenues below consensus estimates for its fiscal first quarter.
Apple rose 1% after reports it is close to finalizing a deal with Hyundai-Kia to produce driverless cars. News that the two may be close to a deal comes after Hyundai said in January that it was in preliminary talks with the iPhone maker to develop a car.
The moves on Wall Street followed three straight positive sessions for the major averages as the speculative retail trading mania faded. So far this week, the blue-chip Dow has gained more than 3%, while the S&P 500 grabbed 3.6%, and the NASDAQ has risen 4.5%.
A better-than-expected jobless claims report helped boost sentiment. First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 779,000 for the week ended Jan. 30, below the 830,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
On the stimulus front, Democrats are moving forward with President Joe Biden’s $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief proposal. Republicans have countered with a more modest $618-billion package, which includes new stimulus checks of $1,000 per person.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys fell, raising yields to 1.16% from Wednesday’s 1.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced nine cents to $55.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dumped $48.60 to $1,786.50 U.S. an ounce.
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