Canada’s largest stock index was little changed on Thursday as shares of energy and bank shares weakened after the European Central Bank moved to cut rates.
The S&P/TSX composite index eked up 3.39 points to conclude Thursday trading at 14,800.18.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.10 cents to 91.51 cents U.S.
A Reuters poll pointed out that the outlook for the Canadian dollar has improved over the last month, as a central bank that is unlikely to significantly alter its course is expected to keep the currency hemmed in a slim trading range.
Financials listed a mite lower, as Royal Bank of Canada lost 0.4% to $74.61, and Bank of Nova Scotia declined 0.4 to $70.21.
Shares of energy producers followed the price of oil lower. Suncor Energy Inc shed 0.3% to $42.41, and Canadian Natural Resources was down two cents at $45.49.
Among gold-mining shares, Goldcorp climbed 1.5% to $25.48, and Barrick Gold added 1% to $17.58.
In corporate news, Canadian Western Bank reported a 19% rise in fiscal second-quarter net profit and also raised its dividend. The stock fell 0.7% to $38.09.
On other matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that building permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose 1.1% to $6.0 billion in April, after two straight monthly declines. This increase resulted from higher construction intentions in the residential sector, which more than offset the decline in the non-residential sector.
Western University’s Ivey School of Business reported this morning that its purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.2 last month from a reading of 54.1 in April. Analysts had expected the index to increase to 56.0 in May. A figure above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 3.50 points to 985.92.
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by day’s end, powered by gold, shining 1.4% brighter, while consumer staples and industrials were each 0.8% stronger.
The five laggards were weighed by telecoms, retreating 0.5% in price, while consumer discretionaries and the metals and mining were each down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks shattered all-time records after Mario Draghi -- and the European Central Bank he helms -- unleashed negative interest rates to fuel growth. And then the markets raced even higher after David Tepper, the hedge fund heavyweight, revealed he's no longer nervous about the market.
The Dow rocketed 98.58 points to 16,836.11
The S&P 500 added 12.58 points to 1,940.46, and the NASDAQ composite index jumped 44.59 points, or 1%, to 4,296.23
U.S. stocks achieved liftoff after CNBC reported that Tepper, the founder of Appaloosa Management, said his chief market concerns have "alleviated" in part due to the ECB move.
Tepper spooked many investors last month by saying he's "nervous" about stock prices and preaching caution given concerns about U.S. and European growth and China's slowdown.
But Tepper, who hauled in a $3.5 billion U.S. in pay last year, now believes all of those fears "one by one" have been eased.
Record breaking has become commonplace on Wall Street. A higher close would leave the S&P 500 with its 17th record close of the year. Still, it's worth noting the index is still trading below its all-time inflation-adjusted highs.
General Motors released the findings of its internal investigation into the ignition switch defect and massive recall today.
GM has issued recalls for 2.6 million cars over a technical problem linked to the deaths of at least 13 people. In total, GM has recalled 15.8 million vehicles worldwide this year.
GM CEO Mary Barra pledged to do the "right thing" for victims and said the auto maker fired 15 people for misconduct, incompetence or failure to act over the scandal. Barra said the report found a pattern of incompetence and neglect, but no conspiracy to cover up the defects.
Shares of the automaker rallied 3% of Wednesday, but are down slightly on Thursday.
Shares of Twitter climbed 3% after the Financial Times reported Twitter recently considered acquiring online music services Soundcloud, Spotify or even Pandora in a bid to find new sources of growth.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile dropped about 2% amid reports the company and Sprint are once again moving towards a potential marriage -- in the face of serious regulatory skepticism. Sprint shares experienced an even more negative reaction, dropping 3%.
While a deal could be blocked by antitrust or telecom regulators, the number-three and -four wireless providers feel they need to team up to compete with industry leaders AT&T and Verizon
Shares of Ciena surged 18% after the company unveiled a bullish outlook for the second half of 2014. Ciena's quarterly profits and sales also exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
Wall Street punished shares of Rite Aid, driving the drug store retailer 7% lower on its gloomy outlook. Rite Aid cited higher-than-expected drug costs.
Joy Global popped 6.5% after the mining equipment maker logged profits that easily beat expectations despite the industry slowdown. Larger rival Caterpillar enjoyed a spillover effect, climbing more than 2%.
J.M. Smucker rallied over 1% after reporting a lower drop in profits and sales than analysts had feared. The maker of Folgers was hurt by lower coffee prices and earlier this week announced plans to raise the price of its coffee products by 9%.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Labor Department said 312,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, up from 304,000 the week before.
But Wall Street is already looking ahead to Friday's all-important jobs report, which economists predict will show the U.S. added 200,000 jobs in May. The unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 6.4%.
U.S. capital markets tend to take their cues from Janet Yellen & Co. at the Federal Reserve, but recently they've been moved by Mario Draghi's efforts to breathe life into the European economy.
Hoping to encourage inflation and spur bank lending, the ECB cut interest rates, as expected, to a record low and set a negative deposit rate on Thursday.
The negative rate is meant to penalize banks that decide to park their cash at the central bank instead of lending it out to businesses and consumers. The ECB is the first major central bank to move into negative territory.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.58% from Wednesday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices fell eight cents to $102.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $8.80 to $1,253.10 U.S. an ounce.
