Equities in Toronto climbed on Thursday as oil and gas shares recovered some losses from the previous session, in step with a fragile recovery in crude prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 131.48 points to roll into noon hour at 15,127.13
The Canadian dollar moved higher 0.96 cents to 80.47 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy gained 2.3% to $38.35 and Canadian Natural Resources rose 3% to $38.81.
Metals stocks were also enjoying an up day, with Sherritt International leaping 6.5% to $2.30.
Banks were broadly buoyant, with Toronto-Dominion Bank having the biggest positive influence on the index, up 1.4% at $53.28. Royal Bank of Canada gained 1.1% to $74.94 and Bank of Nova Scotia added 1.3% to $64.25.
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 spiked 6.84 points to 693.51
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon hour, with energy leading the charge, up 2.6%, metals and mining growing 2%, and financials up 1.4%.
Only gold missed out, dulling 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday, encouraged by oil gains and shaking off concerns about Greece and U.S. data ahead of tomorrow's all-important jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 146.39 points to stop for lunch Thursday at 17,819.41, led by Pfizer. Merck and Verizon were the only blue-chip decliners.
The S&P 500 rebounded 14.93 points to 2,056.44, with energy leading gains across all sectors. The NASDAQ index continued higher 28.70 points to 4,745.40.
The major indices mostly recovered losses for 2015 with the Dow and NASDAQ in positive territory for the year.
The majority of S&P 500 companies that reported earnings early on Thursday beat expectations by 1% or more, according to The Earnings Scout.
Shares of the pharmaceutical giant surged more than 3% 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 $3.27 per barrel to $51.72 U.S.
Gold prices slid $1.30 an ounce to $1,263.20 U.S.
