The Toronto stock market moved into positive territory Thursday, as economic growth data from China met expectations and traders looked to a two-day summit of European Union leaders.
The S&P/TSX composite index tacked on 28.47 points to greet noon at 12,489.72
The Canadian dollar slid 0.29 cents to 101.96 cents U.S.
The gold sector lost ground as Barrick Gold Corp. faded 58 cents to $38.55.
December copper was one cent lower at $3.74 U.S. a pound following a five-cent run-up Wednesday and the base metals sector lost territory First Quantum Minerals declined 11 cents to $22.64.
Among energy plays, Canadian Natural Resources shed 28 cents to $30.80 as the energy sector drifted lower.
The financial sector was supportive as Manulife Financial advanced seven cents to $12.45.
Britain’s financial regulator has fined a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. the equivalent of about $950,000 for what it called "failings" in the governance of its with-profits business. The Financial Services Authority ruling concerns the operation of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.K.) Ltd.
The FSA says the design and operation of the company’s governance arrangements were unclear and inadequate, resulting in a high risk that the interests of policyholders would not be properly protected. However, the FSA didn’t criticize the transactions themselves.
Sun Life shares gained 22 cents to $24.39.
In other corporate developments, Telus Corp. will have a single class of shares after shareholders voted strongly in favour of the plan on Wednesday, defeating a U.S. hedge fund’s attempt to get a premium for holders of the company’s voting shares. Telus voting shares gained 29 cents to $63.18 while its non-voting shares gained 55 cents to $62.83.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that wholesale sales improved 0.5% in August to $49.7 billion, reversing a two-month losing trend. The main agents were higher sales in the food, beverage and tobacco sub-sector.
The agency also said that 534,400 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits in August, up 16,400, or 3.2%, from July. The figure had been somewhat stagnant for months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.53 points to 1,306.53
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, led by the metals and mining and global base metals subgroups, each up 1.1%, while telecoms advanced 1%.
The three laggards were gold, down 1.5%, materials, fading 0.6%, and consumer staples, off 0.1%.
Health-care stocks were flat at noon.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities were mixed Thursday as investors focused on weekly jobless claims and the latest sign of a slowdown in China.
The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 20.74 points to pause for lunch at 13,577.70
The S&P 500 index gained back 2.88 to 1,463.79, while the Nasdaq was still negative 3.48 to 3,100.64
Shares of Dow component Travelers Cos. jumped after the insurer reported that its income more than doubled in the quarter, beating expectations, thanks to lower losses from natural disasters. Verizon shares rose after the company posted earnings that met expectations. Shares of IBM continued to be under pressure after the blue chip reported a drop in sales late Tuesday.
Morgan Stanley reported earnings before the opening bell that topped analysts' forecasts, posting earnings per share of 28 cents and revenue of $7.6 billion U.S. -- compared to the 24 cents a share and $6.4 billion U.S. in revenue that had been expected.
U.S.-listed shares of Nokia fell after the Finnish cellphone maker logged its sixth straight quarterly loss.
Asset manager Blackstone reported strong quarterly results, while earnings from Microsoft and Google are due out after the bell.
Overall, S&P Capital IQ projects that third-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 will decline 0.7% from a year ago, the weakest showing in three years.
Shares of Juniper Networks surged after a trade publication reported that it could be taken over by EMC
Economically speaking, a report on initial jobless claims showed that the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits jumped by 46,000 to 388,000 last week. That's higher than the 360,000 claims economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected.
Separately, the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve said manufacturing activity improved in the district during October.
The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury drooped, raising the yield to 1.82% from Wednesday’s 1.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 54 cents to $91.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were down seven dollars to $1,745.90 U.S. an ounce.
