Canada's main stock index ?opened higher on Thursday as oil prices pulled back from four-year highs and mining shares climbed, with ?investors assessing corporate earnings and Middle ?East developments.
The TSX Composite Index regained 304.99 points to conclude Wednesday at 33,623.38.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.18 cents at 73.32 cents U.S.
Domestic earnings season was ?in full swing. Bombardier ?reported a 5% rise in first-quarter revenue, buoyed by strong demand for repair and maintenance services.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—decreased by 60,200 (-0.3%) in February, following an increase of 44,300 (+0.2%) in January. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was virtually unchanged in February.
As well, February gross domestic product rose 0.2% in February, up for a fourth consecutive month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rebounded 5.6 points to 988.12.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups rumbled upward in the first hour, led by health-care, up 2.9%, gold, brighter by 2%, and consumer discretionary stocks, improving 1.8%.
The two laggards were information technology, down 0.8%, and energy, off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
The stock market was split in half on Thursday, with strong earnings from old economy leader Caterpillar boosting the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while concerns about overly ambitious artificial intelligence spending knocked down Meta and the NASDAQ Composite.
The 30-stock index climbed 584.39 points, or 1.2%, to 49,446.20.
The much broader index nicked lower 1.06 points to 7,134.85.
The tech-driven NASDAQ sagged 164.55 points to 24,508.69.
Caterpillar shares popped 9% on Thursday after the company better-than-expected quarterly figures, boosting the Dow. Conversely, Meta Platforms and Microsoft lost 9% and 5%, respectively, weighing on the S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Meta shares were weighed by the company’s latest capital expenditures guidance, while user growth disappointed. Microsoft pulled after it said spending will reach $190 billion due to high memory costs.
But even with the latest pressure in technology, a surge in those stocks has placed the three major averages on pace to round out a strong month. The S&P 500 has risen more than 9% month to date, putting the index on pace for its best month since November 2020. The NASDAQ is heading for a 13% jump, tracking for its best month since April 2020. The Dow is set to end April with a more than 6% gain — its strongest monthly performance since November 2024.
Oil prices reversed course Thursday, with Brent crude futures losing 2% to trade above $114 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate futures falling 0.5% to trade above $106.
Crude prices rose Wednesday as overseas tensions remained high between the U.S. and Iran. The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that President Donald Trump told his aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.40% from Wednesday’s 4.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices retreated $1.88 to $105.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices pointed higher $74.30 to $4,635.80 U.S. an ounce.
