Stocks in Toronto stayed positive midday Thursday, as investors largely shrugged off the U.S. Federal Reserve's signals on trimming its massive stimulus, while the energy sector received a boost from stronger oil prices.
The TSX Composite gained 75.77 points to roll into noon hour Thursday at 20,477.26.
The Canadian dollar acquired 0.77 cents to 78.98 cents U.S.
BlackBerry gained $1.26, or 10.3%, to $13.47, and was the largest percentage gainer on the TSX, after the cyber-security firm beat
Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue on Wednesday.
First Majestic Silver doffed 41 cents, or 2.6%, to $15.28, and Endeavour Silver faded 11 cents, or 2%, to $5.45.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said retail sales fell 0.6% to $55.8 billion in July. Sales were down in five of 11 sub-sectors, with the decline primarily driven by lower sales at food and beverage stores and at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.58 points to 878.84.
Seven of the 12 TSX sectors were positive midday, with energy gaining 3%, health-care better by 1.3%, and financials ahead 1%.
The five laggards were gold, down 1.5%, materials, off 0.7%, and information technology sliding 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks jumped for a second day as fears around a crisis in China’s property market eased somewhat and as the Federal Reserve kept current monetary stimulus in place for just a little bit longer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 514.12 points, or 1.5%, to 34,772.44
The S&P 500 jumped 57.77 points, or 1.3%, to 4,453.41,
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 139.7 points to 15,035.15.
Thursday gains pushed the Dow and S&P into the green for the week. The Dow was heightened 0.5% and the S&P was up 0.4%. The NASDAQ is down 0.1% for the week.
Salesforce led the index with a 5% gain after the cloud company raised its full-year 2022 revenue guidance. Darden Restaurants led the S&P, jumping more than 5% after reporting strong quarterly earnings.
Stocks linked to a global economic recovery were higher. General Electric shares added about 5%. Las Vegas Sands, which has big China exposure, rose 3%. Caterpillar added 2%. Energy stocks were also higher.
Bank stocks, which are typically viewed as cyclical stocks whose performance is tied to the path of the economy, rose as Treasury yields climbed higher. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citibank added about 3%. Regional banks, which tend to trade closely along with the 10-year, like Regions and Fifth Third gained more than 4%.
Several companies are on deck for quarterly updates Thursday including Nike and Costco Wholesale, who will report once the market closes.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose last week as the labour market stateside continues its recovery from last year’s recession. There were 351,000 claims last week, topping estimates of 320,000. The reading for the week prior came in at 335,000.
The central bank implemented a $120-billion-per-month bond-buying program last year as the pandemic shuttered the economy. As economic conditions improve more members of the Federal Open Market Committee now see the first rate hike happening in 2022.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys lost ground, boosting yields to 1.40% from Wednesday’s 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.19 to $73.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $28.20 to $1,750.60 U.S. an ounce.
