Canada's main stock index opened higher on Thursday, aided by energy and technology stocks, and as sentiment on Wall Street was lifted by upbeat earnings from Facebook-parent Meta Platform.
The S&P/TSX Composite hurtled higher 176.75 points to open Thursday at 20,920.98
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.25 cents to 77.79 cents U.S.
ATB Capital Markets raised the target price on Cenovus Energy to $33.00 from $31.00. Shares in Cenovus grabbed 12 cents to $23.39.
RBC raises target price on Loblaw Companies to $133.00 from $120.00. Loblaw took on 12 cents, or 1%, to $119.18.
RBC cut the target price on Saputo to $35.00 from $37.00. Saputo shares gained 13 cents to $28.33.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours as payroll employment—rose by 142,900 (+0.8%) in February.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said Wednesday this country's economy is overheating, creating domestic inflationary pressures, and higher interest rates are needed to cool things down.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 0.43 points to 809.16.
All 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, led by energy, chugging 2.2%, information technology, improving 1.3%, and financials, up 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Thursday, following a strong earnings report from Meta Platforms, as the market sought to recover from this month’s selloff.
The Dow Jones Industrials opened Thursday up 116.09 points to 33,418.02.
The S&P 500 moved up 25.29 points to 4,209.25.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 70.71 points to 12,559.64.
The S&P 500 is down 6.8% for April — on pace for its biggest monthly decline since March 2020. The NASDAQ has lost nearly 11% since the start of April and is headed for its worst one-month performance since October 2008. The Dow has been the relative outperformer, losing about 4% this month.
Shares of Meta surged about 16% following a beat on earnings, a sign that investors may see signs of relief in the beaten-up tech sector. Shares were down 48% on the year heading into the results.
Qualcomm gained more than 8% on the back of strong earnings, while PayPal rose roughly 5% despite issuing weak guidance for the second quarter.
McDonald’s, Merck, Eli Lilly and Southwest were all higher Thursday after their quarterly reports.
On the downside, Caterpillar fell about 5% despite an earnings beat. Teladoc plunged more than 44% after reporting weaker-than-expected results.
U.S. gross domestic product unexpectedly declined in the first quarter by 1.4% from the year prior, compared with the 1% growth expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Some investors brushed off the economic contraction, citing the jump in prices and trade deficit as contributing the most to the decline.
Treasury prices sagged, lifting yields to 2.86% from Wednesday’s 2.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices squeezed up a penny to $102.03 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $2.20 to $1,886.50 U.S. an ounce.
