Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday led by gains in cannabis stocks, while investors cheered upbeat sentiment on Wall Street from robust earnings updates.
The TSX leaped 111.25 points to break for lunch at 20,477.97.
The Canadian dollar marched ahead 0.15 cents to 73.50 cents U.S.
As mentioned, cannabis concerns enjoyed upward momentum, particularly, Tilray Inc., jumping 32 cents, or 10.9%, to $3.27, while Canopy Growth gained seven cents to 4.1%, to $1.78.
Teck Resources added $1.03, 1.7%, to $62.38, after Glencore Plc said its takeover bid for Teck still stands, after the Canadian miner scrapped a restructuring plan.
Suncor Energy added $1.29, or 3.2%, to $41.23, after buying Canadian operations of French oil and gas major TotalEnergies for $4.1 billion, with potential additional payments of up to $450 million.
Business jet maker Bombardier swung to a first-quarter adjusted profit, helped by increased deliveries of its pricier planes. Its shares were, however, down $4.22, or 6.5%, to $60.32.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employees" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—rose by 62,500 (+0.3%) in February, following an increase of 75,300 (+0.4%) in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.43 points to 606.01.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, led by health-care stocks, up 2%, financials, improving 1%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.9%.
The two laggards were industrials, down 0.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks, weaker by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose Thursday, boosted by strong results from Meta Platforms
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 280.73 points by lunch hour to 33,582.60.
The S&P 500 hiked 45.09 points, or 1.1%, to 4,100.98.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 193.70 points, or 1.6%, to 12,048.05.
Meta shares leapt more than 14% as the company reported quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ expectations and issued an upbeat forecast. Teladoc and Comcast were also among companies trading higher after releasing earnings reports.
But Caterpillar, which is often seen as a barometer of the global economy, lost nearly 4%. Although it posted better-than-anticipated results, investors feared a build-up in inventory suggests demand is slowing. Merck, another Dow member, traded down more than 2% after reporting.
Amazon and Intel will share their quarterly results after the closing bell Thursday adding to what has been a major earnings week for the technology sector.
However, sentiment was kept in check after GDP data showed less economic growth than expected. The U.S. economy grew 1.1% in the first quarter, while economists polled by Dow Jones forecasted an expansion of 2%. The report also showed stronger-than-expected inflation, with prices increasing 4% compared with a consensus estimate of 3.7%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were lower, raising yields to 3.51% from Wednesday’s 3.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices reacquired 34 cents to $74.64 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices let go of $3.40 to $1,992.60 U.S. an ounce.
