Stocks in Canada were virtually unchanged by noon hour on Thursday as gains in the financial sector and shares of TransCanada Corp were tempered by a decline in resource companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index retained gains of 8.01 points to greet noon Thursday at 15,336.28
The Canadian dollar docked 0.26 cents to 79.85 cents U.S.
TransCanada was the biggest advancer on the index, rising 3.7% to $55.64, after its fourth-quarter profit beat expectations due to lower costs and an expansion of gas lines.
The financials group also helped support the market, as Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.6% to $72.74, while Royal Bank of Canada advanced 0.4% to $100.86.
On the downside, Barrick Gold Corp declined 3% to $16.64 after the world's biggest gold producer forecast an output drop over the next four years.
Investors were also taking in a slew of Canadian corporate earnings, while global markets rose.
Bombardier jumped 8.8% to $3.58 after an improvement in sales and margins in its rail division helped its quarterly profit beat estimates.
Late on Wednesday, an independent U.S. trade body said it had rejected hefty U.S. duties on Bombardier's CSeries jets partly because Boeing lost no sales or revenue when Delta Air Lines ordered the aircraft in 2016 from the Canadian plane maker.
Shopify weighed on the index, down 1.8% at $168.4 after the company reported fourth-quarter results and guidance.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported that in December, 500,100 people received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, down 1.1% from November.
The agency adds the number of EI recipients has been on a downward trend since October 2016.
Also the Canadian Real Estate Association revealed national home sales via Canadian MLS Systems dropped sharply in January after having climbed to the highest monthly level on record in December.
CREA said actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity was down 2.4% from January 2017 and stood close the 10-year average for the month of January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forfeited 4.31 points to 831.26
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by lunch hour, led by real-estate, climbing 1.4%, while utilities soared 0.6%, and consumer discretionaries advanced 0.5%.
The three laggards were energy, slouching 1.5%, gold, slumping 1.3%, and materials down 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks alternated between gains and losses on Thursday as the major indexes tried to extend their current winning streak to five days.
The Dow Jones industrial average was off its highs of the morning, but climbing 75.77 points by midday to 24,969.26, with Boeing as the biggest contributor of gains.
The S&P 500 added 9.95 points to 2,708.58, with utilities and tech as the best-performing sectors.
The NASDAQ was in the green 48.62 points to 7,192.24, after falling as much as 0.2% during the morning.
In corporate news, Cisco Systems jumped 3.3% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company also posted its first year-over-year revenue increase in more than two years.
Sources told some media that Amazon is teaming up with Bank of America to provide loans to merchants. Amazon fell 0.4%, while Bank of America shares traded flat.
Last Thursday, the indexes closed 10% below record highs set Jan. 26. One of the factors cited by investors and traders was a surge in interest rates to levels not seen in years.
On the data front Thursday, jobless claims increased by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 230,000, rebounding from a near 45-year low. The price producer index, meanwhile, rose 0.4% in January, in line with expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note inched up, lowering yields to 2.88% from Wednesday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices nicked higher five cents a barrel to $60.65 U.S.
Gold prices backtracked four dollars to $1,354.00 U.S. an ounce.
