Oil prices were again in the spotlight Thursday, continuing their roller-coaster ride, and taking stocks in North America up with them.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 96.23 points to open Thursday at 15,091.88.
The Canadian dollar moved higher 0.49 cents to 80 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy, Canada's largest oil and gas company, reported on Wednesday a fall of more than 80% in quarterly profit, hit by the slide in oil prices and weaker output from its Alberta oil sands operations. Suncor shares were up 39 cents to $37.88.
MEG Energy Corp reported a quarterly operating profit, compared with a loss a year earlier, helped by an increase in bitumen sales and higher prices. MEG shares took on 80 cents, or 3.7%, to $22.24.
The Canadian province of Ontario said on Wednesday it had sold its remaining shares in General Motors for about $1.1 billion.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on ATS Automation Tooling to buy from hold. ATS shares tailed off three cents to $14.07.
Barclays cut the price target on Manitoba Telecom to $25.00 from $27.00, and on Intact Financial to $97.00 from $83.00. Manitoba Tel shares dumped 64 cents, or 2.6%, to $24.37, while Intact shares gained $1.39, or 1.6%, to $87.28.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that our country’s imports hiked by 2.3% in December and exports rose 1.5%. That means Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $335 million in November to $649 million in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.47 points to 690.14
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher in the first hour of trading, with energy sprinting out ahead 2.1%, metals and mining stronger by 2%, and industrials better 1.6%.
Gold proved the only holdout, sliding 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday, shaking off concerns about Greece and lackluster U.S. data ahead of tomorrow's all-important jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 117.74 points to open for business Thursday at 17,790.76, with Pfizer leading blue-chip gains and Disney the greatest of five laggards.
The S&P 500 rebounded 15.90 points to 2,057.41. The NASDAQ index regained 27.13 points to 4,743.84.
Shares of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer gained more than 2.5% on news of its acquisition of Hospira for about $15 billion U.S. to gain access to biosimilars, copies of biotech drugs made from living cells.
In corporate news, social media giant Twitter reports after the bell, as does video game maker Activision Blizzard.
Also reporting earnings after the bell, CME Group will be in focus after the group announced plans to close most of its futures trading pits in Chicago and New York City by July 2 on Wednesday.
Futures held gains after digesting U.S. economic data before the bell. Weekly jobless claims came in at 278,000, below estimates of 290,000 and above last week's 267,000 figure.
Non-farm productivity fell a greater-than-expected 1.8% for the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rising at a 0.5% pace.
The U.S. trade deficit for December widened sharply to its highest level since 2012. The Commerce Department said on Thursday the trade deficit jumped 17.1% to $46.6 billion U.S., the largest since November 2012. It was the biggest percentage increase since July 2009.
The number of planned layoffs by U.S. employers rose to a nearly two-year high in January as the energy industry slashed jobs in the face of falling oil prices, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Continued talks between Greek and euro-zone leaders show that the developments are part of a negotiation, making the situation "less of a negative" for now, he said, noting that investors will still be watching headlines closely.
Stocks also have a boost from oil, which recovered to trade just under $50 U.S. a barrel with gains of more than 2% after closing nearly 9% lower on Wednesday.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries hesitated a bit, raising yields to 1.81% from Wednesday’s 1.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices popped $1.49 per barrel to $49.94 U.S.
Gold prices slid $4.60 an ounce to $1,259.90 U.S.
