A sign that an agreement may be in the works to head off a possible default by the U.S. government in a week's time was enough to spark a relief rally and push North American markets sharply higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index barreled ahead 164.08 points, or 1.3%, to end Thursday at 12,894.41
The Canadian dollar was fairly flat at 96.21 cents U.S.
Base metal stocks advanced, with December copper up two cents at $3.25 U.S. a pound. Worries about the economic fallout from the Washington budget impasse have impacted commodity prices sharply, with copper losing six cents Wednesday.
First Quantum Minerals climbed 48 cents to $18.60 while Thompson Creek Metals climbed 19 cents to $3.41.
The energy sector gained strength as Canadian Natural Resources advanced $1.43 to $33.46 after the oil and gas giant provided a sneak preview at its third-quarter results.
Canadian Natural said its cash flow from operations during the quarter came in at about $2.21 per share, better than the $1.94 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had on average been expecting. The company reports full earnings Nov. 7.
The industrials component ran up and Canadian National Railways rose $1.91 to $109.85.
Financials gained ground as Royal Bank rose $1.29 to $67.69.
The gold sector erased early losses to move ahead, although Iamgold gave back three cents to $4.65.
The tech sector moved up, as BlackBerry says its office in Halifax will shut down in January, a move that will lay off 350 workers. The company says the closure is necessary in order to refocus its business to generate profits in a competitive mobile phone industry. Its shares added five cents to $8.49.
Wi-LAN Inc. shares rose 19 cents to $4.09 after it said it has reached a settlement in its patent dispute with Sierra Wireless Inc. The Ottawa-based patent-licensing company says Sierra has agreed to enter into a multi-year licence to Wi-LAN's patent portfolio.
On things economic, Statistics Canada reported housing prices were higher 0.1% in August, following a 0.2% increase in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 2.48 points to 935.52
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were gainers on the day. Health-care stocks shot 2.5% higher, while energy gushed 1.9%, and global base metal stocks were stronger by 1.8%.
The two laggards were gold, sliding 0.8%, and materials, 0.4% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
Washington didn't even need to finalize a debt ceiling deal to convince investors to buy stocks again.
The Dow spiked 323.09 points, or 2.2%, to close out its best day of the year at 15,126.10
The S&P 500 index gained 36.16 points to 1,692.56. The NASDAQ rocketed back up 82.97 points to 3,760.75
Shares of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, rose between 2% and 3%. JPMorgan Chase andWells Fargo will report their latest quarterly earnings on Friday morning. One trader is expecting healthy results.
Several large technology stocks popped Thursday, including Netflix, eBay, Facebook, Priceline and Tesla. Many of these companies, which are among the hottest stocks of the year, had been hit hard in the past few days as the broader market sold off.
Shares of Citrix Systems sank 12%, after the software company released its third-quarter results early, saying it expected earnings and revenue to come in lower than previously anticipated.
Four companies started trading Thursday. Biotech MacroGenics was the big standout, jumping more than 50%. Several companies have done extremely well in the market debuts lately, including sandwich chain Potbelly. And investors are eagerly awaiting the upcoming initial public offering of Twitter.
House Republicans offered a proposal to raise the debt ceiling temporarily, while the government would remain partially shut down.
Investors had been growing increasingly concerned as October 17, a key deadline to increase the debt ceiling, comes closer. Should politicians fail to raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. is likely to default on some of its debt or could be forced to choose between interest payments on the debt and paying for key government services.
Investors saw one sign that should make them uneasy about the jobs market in the U.S., but they seemed content to ignore it Thursday.
The U.S. Labor Department's weekly report on initial jobless claims showed a sharp jump in claims over the previous week. The government did not release its monthly jobs report last week due to the shutdown.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, raising yields to 2.68% from Wednesday’s 2.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices climbed $1.29 to $102.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices plummeted $20.70 to $1,286.50 U.S. an ounce.
