Canada's main stock index was sharply higher on Thursday, propelled by a strong rebound in the energy sector, as it regained some ground after a steep drop the previous session that was spurred partly by a gunman's incursion into the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and the deadly shooting of a soldier.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 153.28 points, or 1.1%, to greet noon at 14,465.35
The Canadian dollar eased 0.06 cents at 88.97 cents U.S.
Cenovus Energy, Canada's number-two independent oil producer, jumped 6.1% to $27.86 after its quarterly results beat expectations. Canadian Natural Resources rose 2.7% to $39.51.
The index's industrial sector climbed as Canadian National, Canada's biggest
railroad, was up 1.7% at $76.49. Canadian Pacific, the number-two railway, was up 1.8% at $225.24.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to redouble the country's fight against "terrorist organizations" abroad after a reported convert to Islam rampaged through parliament, shocking the usually tranquil capital city of Ottawa.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the number of regular Employment Insurance recipients in August was essentially unchanged, at 498,100. Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of beneficiaries fell by 18,800 or 3.6%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.54 points to 810.54.
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher in morning trading, with energy gushing 2.4%, industrials stronger by 2.9%, and consumer staples 1.1% to the good.
The three laggards were gold, down 1.6%, materials, off 0.4%, and telecoms, weaker by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The U.S. stock market moved sharply higher on Thursday, as investors cheered upbeat manufacturing data from euro-zone and better-than-expected earnings from Caterpillar Inc, 3M Co and General Motors.
The Dow Jones Industrials roared higher 252.93 points, or 1.5%, to 16,714.25
The S&P 500 gained 27.51 points to 1,954.62. The NASDAQ index hiked 75.69 points to 4,458.54.
Shares of Dow industrials component Caterpillar leapt 4.6%. The heavy-equipment maker raised its earnings outlook for the year to $6.50 U.S. a share, from $6.20 U.S., while keeping the midpoint of its revenue view unchanged. Third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.72 U.S. a share outstripped expectations of $1.36 U.S. a share.
3M another component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, said third-quarter earnings were $1.98 U.S. a share, above expectations of $1.96 U.S. a share from a survey of analysts. Sales of $8.1 billion U.S., however, were shy of Wall Street’s estimate of $8.227 billion. Shares of the maker of Post-it notes and other industrial goods rose 4.7%.
General Motors posted earnings, excluding one-time costs, of 97 cents a share, higher than projections of 95 cents a share. GM rose 0.9%.
Shares in Tractor Supply Co surged 16%, after it reported quarterly results after the market close on Wednesday, beating consensus estimates. The stock was raised to strong buy from market-perform by Raymond James.
Southwest Airlines Co. reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 55 cents a share, more than Wall Street’s estimate of 53 cents a share. Shares gained 2.5%. Southwest stock gained more than 85% since the start of the year.
Under Armour which makes athletic apparel, reported third-quarter profit and sales above expectations, but shares fell 4.5% after surging 51% so far this year.
Shares of Yelp dropped 15%. The online review site late Wednesday posted better-than-expected third-quarter results but issued a weak outlook.
After the bell, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will release financial reports.
Economically speaking, the number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 last week to 283,000. Economists had expected claims to rise to a seasonally-adjusted 285,000 in the week ended Oct. 18.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell, raising yields to 2.26% from Wednesday’s 2.23%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 71 cents to $81.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $10.50 to $1,235.00 U.S. an ounce.
