Equities in Toronto rose on Thursday, helped by gains among energy and resource stocks, which were bolstered by stronger commodity prices, and a modest rise by the influential financials group.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 74.95 points to greet noon at 15,379.72
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.66 cents to 82.34 cents U.S.
The biggest positive driver on the index included Canadian Natural Resources, which rose 1% to $40.88, and Goldcorp, which advanced 1.3% to $23.37.
The materials group perked as Detour Gold gained 34 cents, or 3.1% to $11.25.
Among energy issues, Birchcliff energy leaped 37 cents, or 4.7%, to $8.22, while Legacy Oil and Gas jumped 15 cents, or 6.1%, to $2.63.
The financials group was up modestly, as Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.2% to $80.13
Health-care stocks fell, as Catamaran Corp. lost 50 cents, or 0.7%, to $72.25
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that those on employment insurance rose by 9,900, or 2%, in February to 509.800. The agency adds that, compared with 12 months earlier, the number of beneficiaries was down 0.7% or 3,500.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped forward 2.10 points to 699.65
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by midday, with gold and energy stocks each gaining 1.2%, materials up 1%.
The five laggards were led by health-care, off 0.7%, real-estate, dumping 0.5%, and information technology, sliding 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range on Thursday as investors eyed a heavy day of earnings and some economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 48.08 points to 18,086.35, with 3M the greatest laggard and IBM leading advancers.
The S&P 500 index moved higher 5.72 points to 2,113.68, with consumer staples the greatest of six lagging sectors and telecommunications the greatest advancer.
The NASDAQ index gained 11.94 to 5,047.11. The NASDAQ briefly traded above its record close of 5,048.62 touched in March 2000 as all the major indices traded higher.
Among the slew of industrial earnings reports before the bell, Caterpillar surprised analysts by beating expectations on both earnings per share and revenue. The stock gained about 1.5% in morning trade.
Dunkin' Brands jumped more than 8.5% after the firm reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and profit.
3M fell more than 3% after reporting earnings that missed expectations on both the top and bottom line. The company cited the impact of the strong dollar and cut its profit forecast for the year.
General Motors delivered quarterly profit and revenue that missed expectations. Weaker volume in Brazil and Russia hurt sales, as well as the impact of weakening currencies in South America due to the strong U.S. dollar.
PepsiCo delivered quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations. However, revenue fell 3.2% to $12.22 billion U.S. in the first quarter ended March 21, from $12.62 billion U.S. a year earlier, largely due to a strong dollar.
After the market close, Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft, Starbucks,Capital One are all due.
Weekly jobless claims showed an increase of 1,000 to 295,000.
New home sales for March came in weaker than expected, at 481,000 in March, versus the 510,000 unit estimate.
Manufacturing PMI showed that growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector dipped more than expected in April, with factory activity showing the slowest momentum since January, according to financial data firm Markit.
The preliminary U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.2 in April from the final March read of 55.7. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the April figure would come in at 55.5.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries inched forward, lowering yields to 1.97% from Wednesday’s 1.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.89 to $58.05 U.S.
Gold prices tacked on $4.20 to $1,191.10 U.S.
