Markets in Toronto caught some fire on Thursday, amid expectations that Spain would be pressured to seek a sovereign bailout after S&P downgraded it to just one notch above junk.
The S&P/TSX composite index opened Thursday up 45.68 points, to 12,258.10
The Canadian dollar grew 0.37 cents to 102.25 cents U.S.
Among stocks to watch, a senior official for Enbridge Inc. said the company needs to do a better job of communicating to most British Columbians and other Canadians the merits of its contentious Northern Gateway oil pipeline planned for the westernmost province. Enbridge stock dropped seven cents to $39.39
Oil and gas technology whiz Gasfrac Energy Services Inc. says it expected its third-quarter revenue to be around the $40-million mark, far below analysts' expectations, and said it had cut jobs to reduce costs. Analysts had expected revenue of $58 million. Shares took on a penny to $1.79.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported this morning that our merchandise imports fell 3.1% and exports edged down 0.1% in August, meaning Canada's trade deficit with the world narrowed to $1.3 billion in August from $2.5 billion in July.
Elsewhere, the agency reported that its New Housing Price Index rose 0.2% in August, after a July boost of 0.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 4.29 points to 1,306.44
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher out of the starting gate. Metals and mining led the parade, up 1.2%, while global base metals surged 0.9%, and health-care issues were 0.7% stronger.
Only a slight 0.05% drop by real-estate spoiled the party.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks advanced Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapping a four-day losing streak, as investors welcomed an unexpected drop in the number of people filing first-time unemployment claims.
The Dow Jones Industrial average regained 31.37 points to 13,376.30.
The S&P 500 acquired 7.53 points to 1,440.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq rose 20.33 points to 3,072.11.
Also adding fuel to the morning's positive trading was a report that Japan’s Softbank is negotiating to acquire telecom operator Sprint Nextel.
Sprint shares surged almost 20% following a Wall Street Journal report, citing a person close to the negotiations, that SoftBank is nearing a deal to buy the third largest U.S. carrier for about $12.8 billion U.S. As of August, SoftBank's mobile arm has more than 30 million subscribers.
Earlier this week, there had been speculation that Sprint may make a play for rival MetroPCs, which last week agreed to partner with T-Mobile USA operator Deutsche Telekom.
It will be a relatively quiet day for earnings in the corporate world, with companies including grocery chain Safeway scheduled to report. Results are due Friday morning from megabanks JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
Speaking of things economic, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of jobless claims fell 30,000 to 339,000 last week, hitting the lowest level since February 2008.
Also, the U.S. Census Bureau said the trade deficit fell slightly to $44.2 billion from July to August. The U.S. Labor Department also reported import prices rose 1.1% in September while export prices rose 0.8%.
The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost strength, pushing the yield up to 1.72% from 1.69% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.15 to $92.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on four dollars to $1,769 U.S. an ounce.
