The Toronto stock market racked up a solid gain mid-afternoon Thursday amid data showing improving economic growth in the United States.
The S&P/TSX composite index spiked 92.06 points to end the session at 13,735.28
The Canadian dollar poked up 0.01 cents to 89.53 cents U.S.
On Thursday, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan shares lost 69 cents to $34.89 as quarterly profit dropped 45% from a year ago to $230 million U.S. or 26 cents a share, five cents less than expected. Revenue of $1.54 billion U.S. beat expectations of $1.4 billion.
Imperial Oil's profit amounted to $1.24 per share, well above analyst estimates of 89 cents per share under standard accounting but its shares headed 27 cents lower to $45.52.
The industrial sector advanced, ahead of earnings from Canadian National Railways after the close. It is expected to earn 77 cent per share in adjusted profits in the fourth quarter, up from 71 cents per share in the prior year and its shares were ahead $1.26 to $59.34.
Financials ran up as Manulife Financial gained 37 cents to $20.87.
The gold sector fell as Goldcorp fell 71 cents to $26.93.
Metal prices were lower with the March copper contract down one cent to $3.23 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector was down. Teck Resources fell 53 cents to $27.21.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faltered 5.88 points to close Thursday at 952.88
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at the close, led by industrials, charging 1.8%, real-estate, surging 1.4%, and health-care, 1.3% more solid.
The three laggards proved to be gold, down 2.5%, materials, off 1.3%, and the metals and mining sector, sliding 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rebounded Thursday as investors focused more on strong corporate earnings from tech companies and healthy economic data as opposed to continuing tumult in emerging markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 109.82 points – though off its highs of the day -- to 15,848.61
The S&P 500 index added 19.99 points to 1,794.19. The NASDAQ ballooned 71.70 points to 4,123.13
Visa shares rose on better-than-expected results. The credit and debit card processing company has the biggest weighting in the Dow.
Facebook shares soared 14% to a new all-time high following strong quarterly sales and earnings. The social media giant's results showed the company has made huge strides in mobile advertising, an area that previously worried investors.
Shares of rival Twitter, which reports its results next week, also soared.
Google popped after the company announced it was selling its Motorola Mobility smartphone business to China's Lenovo for $2.9 billion U.S. Google will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell. So will Amazon.
Shares of Under Armour surged 21% to a new record high after its earnings blew past Wall Street expectations. The company did cite strong sales of fleece, gloves and headwear.
U.S. stocks fell more than 1% Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it was cutting another $10 billion per month from its economic stimulus program. Investors were disappointed the central bank didn't address the recent trouble in emerging markets.
The U.S. government announced Thursday that the economy grew at a solid 3.2% pace in the third quarter, driven by strong consumer spending and exports. That figure beat economists' expectations, and although it's not indicative of gangbusters growth, the data seems to show the economy is moving forward modestly.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped a bit, raising yields to 2.69% from Wednesday’s 2.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 57 cents to $97.93 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $17.10 to $1,242.50 U.S. an ounce.
