The TSX added to its midday gains, as mining stocks continued to firm, despite a downswing in telecom shares.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 31.52 points, to end the day at 14,770.72
The Canadian dollar remained in the green 0.26 cents to 78.74 cents U.S.
In commodities, miners advanced after upbeat economic news from China, Canada's trading partner, helped lift gold and copper prices. Teck Resources picked up 21 cents to $17.95
Energy issues, however, were down as Imperial Oil was unchanged at $46.75. Canadian Natural Resources trailed 30 cents to $36.51. Baytex Energy remained the most heavily traded stock, but its prices gave back 19 cents to $18.04.
Meanwhile, financials rose with Royal Bank up 33 cents to $76.31, and Scotiabank improved 48 cents to $63.22, while info tech was up on the strength of Redknee Solutions, surging 26 cents, or 6.8% to $4.10
Industrials, up more modestly, were still hampered by falling Bombardier shares after the planemaker reportedly lost Lufthansa's Austrian business as a potential customer for its CSeries jet. Bombardier shares lost four cents to $2.45
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index fell 0.1% in January mostly due to lower negotiated selling prices. The agency says this was the first decrease at the national level since July 2010.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 3.79 points to 673.42
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, as metals and mining leaped 1.4%, while financials and information technology each surged 0.8%.
The four laggards were anchored mostly by gold, down 1.6%, energy, lagging 1.4%, and materials, easing 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday as mixed economic data indicated to some investors that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as early as anticipated.
The Dow Jones Industrials screamed higher 259.83 points or 1.5%, to 17,895.22, with Goldman Sachs among the top three blue-chip leaders. After passing its stress test on Wednesday, Goldman announced it will increase its quarterly dividend by five cents to 65 cents U.S. a share.
The S&P 500 gained 25.71 points to 2,065.95,
The NASDAQ index picked up 43.35 points to 4,893.29
The Dow and S&P’s gains brought both indexes higher for the year. The NASDAQ extended gains for the year.
Intel fell on the firm's lowering of its first quarter revenue outlook, noting weaker demand for business desktop PCs and that inventory levels are lower than expected. Microsoft also declined, as the second greatest laggard in the Dow.
Dollar General matched estimates with quarterly profit of $1.17 U.S. per share, though revenue was slightly below estimates. The discount retailer also initiated a quarterly dividend of 22 cents U.S. per share. However, the discount retailer forecast profit below estimates.
The retailer announced on Saturday plans to expand into Oregon, Maine and Rhode Island, taking its presence to 43 states.
Shake Shack, which recently went public, reported a fourth-quarter loss and said same-restaurant sales growth would slow this year.
Lumber Liquidators surged more than 10% after the company defended its products in a conference call on Thursday.
Alibaba will invest $200 million U.S. in Snapchat, as the mobile messaging company engages in another funding round.
Hewlett-Packard traded slightly lower after Barclays downgraded the firm to equal-weight from overweight, saying it may be hit harder by the slide in the euro than previously thought.
The U.S. dollar fell about 0.5%, pausing its recent rally. The euro edged higher to $1.06 U.S., up from 12-year lows hit on Wednesday.
U.S. business inventories were unchanged in January and further declines in sales pushed the number of months it would take to clear shelves to the highest since July 2009, which suggests a stock draw down in the months ahead.
Retail sales for February fell 0.6%, missing expectations of a slight gain.
Weekly jobless claims fell more than expected to 289,000, below the prior week's 320,000.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.10% from Wednesday’s 2.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded $1.08 to $47.09 U.S.
Gold prices gained $1.40 to $1,152 U.S.
