Strong economic data and solid bank earnings from the United States helped push the Toronto stock market higher Thursday
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 60.08 points to end Thursday’s session at 12,628.85
The Canadian dollar regained 0.26 cents to 96.34 cents U.S.
On Thursday, advancers were led by a rise in the financials sector. Manulife Financial was ahead 27 cents to $18.25 after hitting a new 52-week high of $18.36.
Two of Canada's biggest banks also headed for record highs.
Royal Bank was up 98 cents to $64.78, or 29 cents above its previous high.
TD Bank rose $1.32 to $87.48. Its previous record closing price was $86.40 on March 30, 2011.
The energy sector gained as benchmark crude for August delivery was up.
Despite cooling economic growth in China, the price of oil was underpinned by another sizable decline in U.S. oil supplies. U.S. crude inventories fell by 6.9 million barrels last week, bringing the three-week decline to 27.1 million barrels. Canadian Natural Resources was up 55 cents to $33.92.
The consumer staples sector was up as Shoppers Drug Mart posted quarterly earnings of $147 million or 73 cents a share, one cent above a consensus estimate and its shares added six cents to $60.31.
The Shoppers board and management are supporting a $12.4-billion takeover offer from Loblaw, announced earlier this week. Loblaw shares gained but a penny to $48.57.
The TSX also continued to benefit from traders buying up mining stocks that have been beaten up this year while commodity prices have suffered from a slow global economic recovery. Gold prices have sunk recently on speculation as to when the Fed might start to ease up on its bond purchases.
Copper prices shook of early losses and the September contract on the Nymex closed unchanged at $3.13 U.S. a pound. The base metals sector edged up and First Quantum Minerals climbed 37 cents to $16.52.
The gold sector rose as Centerra Gold improved by nine cents to $4.10.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales rose 2.3% to $50.3 billion in May, the largest rate of growth since the beginning of 2011, mostly due to higher sales in the agricultural supplies and food industries.
What’s more, the agency reported that those of us on regular Employment Insurance (EI) were fewer by 12,300, or 2.4%, to 508,500 in May. Compared with May 2012, the number of people receiving regular EI benefits was down 7.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 3.75 points to 914.57
Of the 14 Toronto subgroups, eight remained positive, as financials jumped 1.3%, energy chugged ahead 0.8%, and consumer discretionary issues gained 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by gold, down 0.6%, while telecoms and materials each lost 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors pushed the Dow and S&P 500 into record territory Thursday, as they welcomed a batch of strong earnings and a drop in jobless claims.
The Dow spiked 78.02 points to end Thursday at 15,548.50
The S&P 500 index improved 8.46 points to 1,689.37. The NASDAQ Composite was up 1.28 points to 3,611.28
All three indexes are up sharply for the year. The Dow and S&P 500 have gained nearly 19% while the Nasdaq has rallied nearly 20%.
IBM shares climbed after the tech stalwart said its net income for the second quarter rose 3% to $4.3 billion, excluding special charges. IBM also raised its outlook for the year. The company's stock was among the top performers in the Dow Thursday.
Shares of Morgan Stanley jumped after the financial firm reported a quarterly profit in line with estimates, though revenue beat forecasts. Shares of rival banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs also increased sharply.
UnitedHealth Group also reported earnings above forecasts and improved its outlook. Shares of the insurance giant were among the the best performing in the S&P 500.
In other earnings news, Verizon reported a 21% jump in quarterly net income from a year earlier. But shares of the company dipped due to a worse-than-expected wireless service profit margin.
Nokia's stock price dropped after the Finnish phone maker reported a 24% plunge in quarterly sales from a year earlier.
Late Wednesday, Intel reported second-quarter profits that fell 29% versus a year prior, sending shares lower. The company also said it expects revenue to be flat this year, after previously forecasting a modest increase.
eBay shares dropped 7% after offering third quarter projections lower than analysts' expectations and Intel shares dropped 4% after releasing disappointing earnings data yesterday.
Aside from earnings, Dell shares rose after the company postponed the final vote on its pending $24.4-billion U.S. buyout offer from founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake in an effort to "solicit further shareholder votes," according to comments made by special committee member Alex Mandl.
Shares of Boeing rose Thursday, recovering from last week's slide following the 787 Dreamliner fire at London's Heathrow Airport.
Investors were relieved after Boeing said that it could remove the emergency locator beacon that British regulators identified as the most likely origin of the fire.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared before the Senate Banking Committee Thursday. He testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, reiterating that the Fed will keep its stimulus policies in place for as long as necessary
Economically speaking, the U.S. government released its weekly report on initial jobless claims, which declined to 334,000 for the week ended July 13. Claims were expected to drop to 348,000, according to a consensus of economist forecasts.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury slid, upping yields to 2.53% from Wednesday’s 2.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.53 to $108.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gathered $5.50 to $1,283.10 U.S. an ounce.
