Canadian stocks followed their American cousins up the ladder on Thursday, as resource and health-care stocks rallied.
The TSX Composite Index soared 415.52 points, or 1.2%, by end of Thursday’s session to 35,217.06.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.08 cents to 71.89 cents U.S.
TransAlta said on Wednesday it will acquire two natural gas-fired peaking facilities near Denver from Blackstone for about $1 billion, strengthening its presence in the Western U.S. power market.
TransAlta shares skidded $2.08, or 10.4%, to $18.00.
Health-care stocks led the gains, with Curaleaf skyrocketing 36 cents, or 7.6%, to $5.09, while Bausch Health Companies gained 40 cents, or 5.8%, to $7.30.
Gold stocks displayed their shine, with I-80 Gold vaulting eight cents, or 3.8%, to $2.20, while Torex Gold captured $1.56, or 2.6%, to $61.81.
In materials, Stella Jones soared $1.99. or 2.5%, to $81.30, while Agnico Eagle Mines exploded $7.03, or 2.9%, to $245.74.
Telecoms got rocked, though, with Quebecor getting spanked $2.15, or 3.1%, to $68.00, while BCE gave back 61 cents, or 1.8%, to $33.47.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Restaurant Brands lost $1.23, or 1.2%, to $99.86, while Gildan Activewear dished off 56 cents to $80.37.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada will extend steel tariff-rate quotas and tariff relief on certain U.S. steel and aluminum imports by one year on Wednesday, citing the need to shield workers from global excess capacity and give the industry longer-term certainty.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire, raising hopes for a de-escalation between Washington and Tehran, even as Iran struck Kuwait and U.S. forces hit near the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring continuing tensions in the months-long conflict.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rebounded 15.56 points, or 1.6%, to 1,020.76.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, led by health-care climbed 3%, gold, ahead 2%, and materials, better by 1.7%.
The two laggards were telecoms, down 1,4%, and consumer discretionaries, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a fresh record high on Thursday, while the NASDAQ Composite underperformed as investors appeared to rotate out of chip names in favor of non-tech stocks.
The 30-stock index popped 875.05 points, or 1.7%, to 51,562.12.
The S&P 500 climbed 30.64 points to 7,584.32.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ shed 23.02 points to 26,830.96.
UnitedHealth led the Dow higher, rising more than 5%. JPMorgan Chase and Walmart added to the benchmark’s advance, climbing 4% and 1%, respectively.
Non-tech names outside of the Dow such as Costco and Eli Lilly gained more than 1% and more than 5%, respectively.
The rotation was sparked by a selloff in Broadcom that led investors to pare exposure to stocks with ties to artificial intelligence. The chipmaker traded 14% lower after the it reported a fiscal second-quarter revenue miss.
Semiconductor names, which led the latest leg higher in the market’s rally to record levels, fell broadly. Arm Holdings shed more than 5%, as did Micron Technology
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sank sharply, raising yields to 4.78% from Wednesday’s 4.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $2.89 to $93.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $40.10 to $4,506.90 U.S. an ounce.
