Toronto's main stock index opened higher on Thursday, led by shares of technology and materials companies, after economic data from China showed growth was picking up in its manufacturing sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 66.99 points at Thursday’s open to 12,167.05
The Canadian dollar faded 0.07 cents to 100.28 cents U.S.
Research In Motion kept its winning streak alive this week, screaming out of the blocks 11.1% to $7.28, as good vibes continued to roll in for its newer BlackBerry 10 product.
In the materials sector, Banro Corp. jumped 4.5% to $3.02.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. said it would merge its real estate, facilities and project management services with the Australian and New Zealand business of auto parts supplier Johnson Controls Inc to form a single entity. Shares in Brookfield took on 24 cents to $34.41.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that retail sales added 0.1% to $39.1 billion in September, following increases in the previous two months.
The nation’s number crunchers also said that those of us receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in September declined, by 5,700, or 1.1%, to 525,900.
Elsewhere, falling home prices and an uptick in household income made Canadian home ownership slightly more affordable in the third quarter, but the longer-term trend is largely unchanged, according to a report by RBC Economics
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.24 points to 1,245.90
All 14 Toronto subgroups were positive soon after the opening bell, led by information technology, up 3.1%, materials, tacking on 0.8%, and industrials, gaining 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving
