Equities in Canada enjoyed yet another upward day, powered largely by consumer stocks, while energy issues made themselves known as well.
The S&P/TSX Composite prospered 77.03 points to end Thursday at 21,342.13
The Canadian dollar slid 0.51 cents to 80.27 cents U.S.
Consumer discretionary stocks had a field day, most notably, toy maker Spin Master, zooming $6.10, or 14.6%, to $48.00, while Gildan Activewear climbed $3.21, or 6.8%, to $50.74.
In consumer staples, Maple Leaf Foods jumped $3.18, or 11.6%, to $30.62, while Primo Water surged $2.46, or 11.95, to $23.17.
Energy gushed as well, with Birchcliff Energy leaping 31 cents, or 4.6%, to $7.13, while Suncor Energy improved 84 cents, or 2.7%, to $32.38.
Among techs, though, things were not so rosy, as Lightspeed POS hurtled earthwater $33.83, or 27.6%, to $88.93, while BlackBerry dropped 92 cents, or 6.3%, to $13.63.
In cannabis stocks, Canopy Growth trickled down 23 cents, or 1.4%, to $16.53, while Cronos Group fell 10 cents, or 1.5%, to $6.76.
Financials also received some bruises, goEasy falling hard $12.77, or 6.4%, to $185.50, while Manulife Financial discarded 96 cents, or 3.8%, to $24.04.
On the economic beat, the country posted a trade surplus of $1.86 billion in September as imports fell faster than exports
The United States, Canada and 18 other countries committed at the COP26 climate summit on Thursday to stop public financing for fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of next year, and steer their spending into clean energy instead.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 3.99 to 988.26.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher on the day, with consumer discretionary stocks jumping 1.7%, consumer staples better by 1.6%, and energy rumbling 0.9%
The three laggards were information technology, tumbling 1.9%, health-care scaling back 0.6%, and financials 0.2% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose for a sixth day in a row on Thursday as investors took solace in the Federal Reserve’s patient stance on raising interest rates. Stronger-than-expected economic data also boosted sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33.35 points from Wednesday’s all-time record to 36,124.23, as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan struggled.
The S&P 500 gained 19.49 points to add to Wednesday’s all-time high at 4,680.06.
The S&P 500 is up 1.6% for the week, pushing its year-to-date return up to 24.6% as the benchmark enters a seasonally strong part of the year for markets.
The NASDAQ Composite grabbed 128.72 points to 15,940.31, also topping the previous record.
Qualcomm rallied nearly 13% Thursday following an earnings beat propelled by a 56% surge in smartphone chip sales. The company also provided strong guidance for the fourth quarter.
Moderna shares cratered almost 18% after the drugmaker slashed its COVID-19 vaccine revenue outlook.
Roku was under pressure, falling more than 7% after the streaming platform reported disappointing third-quarter revenue.
The central bank said it will begin to slow its bond-buying program later this month, signaling that the economy can now handle an unwinding of pandemic stimulus. Investors had long anticipated the move and liked that the Fed did not signal it would be any more aggressive than necessary in raising interest rates once the bond tapering was finished next year.
On the data front, U.S. jobless claims totaled 269,000 for the week ended Oct. 30, the lowest pandemic-era total and better than the 275,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
October’s hotly anticipated jobs report will be released on Friday. Consensus estimates call for 450,000 jobs added, according to Dow Jones. Non-farm payrolls increased by 194,000 in September, far short of the 500,000 estimate.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys jumped sharply, lowering yields to 1.52% from Wednesday’s 1.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices floundered $1.76 to $79.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices prospered $30.90 to $1,794.80 U.S. an ounce.
