The Toronto stock market found some strength late Thursday morning, amid concerns about the role of central banks in supporting the economic recovery and a forecast of lower than expected growth by the World Bank.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index had added 45.74 points midday at 12,155.83
The Canadian dollar remained positive 0.38 cents to 98.32 cents U.S.
The gold sector declined, as Barrick Gold Corp. faded 23 cents to $19.96.
The industrials sector declined and Canadian Pacific Railway was down $1.03 to $124.42.
The energy sector was off while Imperial Oil ran ahead 58 cents to $39.47.
Speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin to wind down its quantitative easing program has also had the effect of pushing U.S. Treasury yields sharply higher, which in turn has had a negative effect on TSX defensive sectors such as real estate, utilities, telecoms and pipelines.
The utilities component was lower Thursday as Just Energy Group fell 14 cents to $6.28.
The base metals sector gained ground as July copper lost two cents to $3.20 U.S. Teck Resources was up 53 cents to $24.59.
Financials gained while Royal Bank climbed 25 cents to $59.28.
The tech sector was also supportive as BlackBerry improved by 70 cents to $14.57.
Earnings news and acquisitions also provided lift for the TSX.
Empire Company Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sobeys Inc. announced Wednesday after the close that they are buying rival Canada Safeway Limited for $5.8 billion in cash. Empire shares jumped $7.44 or 11 per cent to $75.05.
Shares in Transat A.T. Inc. ran up 53 cents or 10% to $5.84 as the travel company posted a net loss of $22.8 million or 59 cents per share in the quarter ended April 30.
On an adjusted after-tax basis, Transat lost $1.43 million or four cents per share, which was far better than the 26 cents per share loss estimated by analysts and an improvement from a loss of 64 cents per share in the second quarter of 2012.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index rose 0.2% in April, following a 0.1% increase in March
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 2.65 points to 925.55
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by lunch hour, led by information technology, sprinting ahead 1.9%, telecoms, up 1.7%, and metals and mining, up 1.5%.
The three laggards were gold, down 1.3%, materials, sliding 0.7%, and energy, down 0.05%.
ON WALLSTREET
In yet another choppy trading day, U.S. stocks bounced into positive territory Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrials increased 45.96 points to 15,041.20
The S&P 500 index took on 6.80 points to 1,619.32. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite moved higher 12.70 points to 3,431.13
In corporate news, shares of Gannett rallied after the newspaper publisher said it was buying Belo for $1.5 billion U.S., a deal that will significantly increase the number of television stations it owns. Shares of Belo were also higher, reflecting the 28% premium that the purchase price represents.
Shares of beauty products company Coty fell, after the company made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Coty raised $1 billion U.S. through an IPO that priced shares at $17.50 U.S. apiece.
Meanwhile, Safeway shares surged, after the grocery chain announced the sale of its Canadian operations to Sobeys for $5.68 billion U.S.. Safeway said it will use the proceeds from the sale to pay down $2 billion U.S. in debt, buy back stock and support growth elsewhere.
Investors have become increasingly nervous about when the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks, particularly the Bank of Japan, will begin curtailing stimulus measures.
Still, investors saw some bright spots in the U.S. economy, after retail sales came in above expectations, and weekly jobless claims dipped more than forecast.
The 0.6% rise in retail sales -- the best reading since February --- was largely due to a jump in auto sales.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury hiked, lowering yields to 2.18% from Wednesday’s 2.23%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were up three cents to $95.91 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dumped $15.00 to $1,377 U.S. an ounce
