Stocks in Toronto found a way upward at the start of trading on Thursday, though gains were weighed by weakness in miners and energy stocks, while dismal corporate earnings from Rogers Communications further dented sentiment.
The TSX Composite advanced 22.37 points to 21,210.56, to yet another all-time high.
The Canadian dollar eked ahead 0.09 cents to 81.14 cents U.S.
As for Rogers, its shares fell 49 cents to $60.77.
Elsewher, activist investor Elliott Management Corp has a big stake in Canadian National Railway, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Shares in CN barreled ahead $1.96, or 1.2%, to $163.49.
CIBC cut the rating on Cascades Inc. to neutral from outperform. Cascades shares dipped 36 cents, or 2.3%, to $15.09.
CIBC cuts target price on Fortis Inc. to $58 from $59. Fortis shares gained five cents to $55.50.
Scotiabank raised the rating on Stella-Jones to outperform from sector perform. Stella-Jones picked up $1.06, or 2.5%, to $43.71.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported prices for new homes increased 0.4% in September, with prices up in 13 of the 27 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed.
The agency went on to say five CMAs saw a decline in new home prices, the largest number of CMAs with a price decrease since March 2020. Prices were unchanged in the remaining CMAs.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 3.72 points to 949.15.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups gained in the first hour on Thursday, with health-care burgeoning 1.8%, industrials, ahead 1%, and consumer staples, better by 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed most by materials, down 0.9%, while energy hesitated 0.6%, and gold dulled 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks declined on Thursday after the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average retook its record high in the prior session amid solid corporate earnings.
The 30-stock index retreated 87.47 points to 35,521.87.
The S&P 500 eked up 1.23 points to 4,537.42.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 59.8points to 15,181.48.
IBM shares lost more than 7% following a revenue miss in the third quarter. Its top two business segments — global services and the Cloud & Cognitive Software business — fell short of estimates.
Tesla shares gained 2% after the electric-car maker posted record earnings and revenue in the third quarter that beat expectations.
American Airlines added about 1% after it posted a profit due to federal aid for the third quarter.
Railroad giant CSX jumped more than 3% following a stronger-than-expected earnings report.
Corporate America has so far had a solid performance in the third quarter, even as inflation proves to be more persistent as many expected.
Of the 80 S&P 500 companies that have reported through Wednesday, 81% topped analysts’ earnings estimates.
The U.S. Labor Department reported 290,000 initial jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 16, which is down from the previous week by 6,000 and lower than the 300,000 estimated by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Investors are watching to see if jobless claims continue to fall, as the Federal Reserve has indicated it will start to normalize its monetary policy as the central bank nears its economic goals.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys fell slightly, raising yields to 1.67% from Wednesday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped $1.22 to $82.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $4.30 to $1,780.60 U.S. an ounce.
