Stocks in Toronto advanced to a two-week high on Thursday after Federal Reserve chief nominee Janet Yellen's indication of support for the U.S. central bank's monetary stimulus program helped boost almost every major sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index gathered 72.99 points to greet noon at 13,443.65
The Canadian dollar dwindled 0.32 cents to 95.33 cents U.S.
Financial shares gained, with Royal Bank of Canada rising 0.4% to $71.33 and Toronto Dominion Bank gaining 0.5% to $97.18.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, climbed as Goldcorp Inc was up 2%, at $25.80.
In corporate news, CGI Group Inc posted a better-than-expected adjusted profit for the fourth quarter, sending shares of the technology services company up 7% to $40.25.
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd dropped 6.7% to $4.32 after the miner said that it planned a rights offering, citing permitting issues that have delayed financing for the expansion of its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia run by Rio Tinto.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported international merchandise exports grew 1.8% during September, while imports edged up 0.2%. As a result, our trade deficit with the world narrowed from $1.1 billion in August to $435 million in September.
The agency’s new housing price index came in unchanged for September, following a 0.1% advance in August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 1.66 points to 927.54
All but one of the 10 TSX subgroups were higher, led by information technology, up 1.1%, materials up 0.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks, ahead 0.6%
Only consume staples missed the party, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed in early trading Thursday, as investors tuned into the Senate confirmation hearing for Janet Yellen, President Obama's nominee to be the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials paused for noon up 42.42 points to 15,864
The S&P 500 index moved up 6.26 points to 1,788.28. The NASDAQ surrendered 2.40 points to 3,963.17.
The NASDAQ fell as a sharp drop in Cisco shares weighed on the tech-heavy index.
Cisco shares tumbled more than 12% after the company reported weak sales for the fiscal first quarter and issued a weak outlook for the current quarter, too.
Cisco CEO John Chambers blamed a "hard-to-read" economic environment, adding that the U.S. government shutdown increased the "lack of confidence among business leaders."
Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected earnings, though the retailer missed on revenue and reported a slight decline in same-store sales in the U.S. Shares of department store chain Kohl's plunged following poor results and a weak outlook. The bad news from these two retailers comes one day after Macy's ignited a retail rally thanks to its strong sales and guidance.
Viacom reported a gain in quarterly revenue, driven by sales in media networks and filmed entertainment, and double-digit gains in net earnings.
Yellen -- who would become the new head of the Fed in early 2014 if she's confirmed by the Senate – is appearing today before the Senate Banking Committee.
Her prepared remarks to the committee, released late Wednesday, show that she intends to encourage growth by maintaining accommodative monetary policies.
The comments appear to have convinced investors that Yellen would continue the Fed's current $85-billion-U.S.-per-month bond-buying program for the next few months. The program -- also known as quantitative easing or 'QE' -- has helped spur stocks by pumping markets with extra cash.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries regained ground, lowering yields to 2.70% from Wednesday’s 2.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 18 cents to $93.70 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $21 to $1,289.40 U.S. an ounce.
