Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday as resource stocks, buoyed by a gold rally, helped the market rebound from recent losses.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 28.17 points to greet noon at 15,008.89
The Canadian dollar erased 0.22 cents to 83.40 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index were Goldcorp Inc , which rose 2.8% to $23.90, and Barrick Gold, which advanced 1.5% to $16.07.
Energy stocks were flat, with Encana Corp shares up 1.7% at $16.57 and Canadian Natural Resources falling 0.4% to $38.15.
Bombardier Inc shares rose 1.6% to $2.59 after the company announced plans to cut 1,750 jobs in its business-jet unit.
Canadian Tire Corp advanced 0.7% to $127.38 after the company reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
Canadian financial authorities are unlikely to raise the country's inflation target after a review this year given the risk to the central bank's credibility and widespread support for the existing benchmark
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada revealed its new housing price index was unchanged in March, following a 0.2% increase in February
Economists expected new home prices to have risen 0.1% in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.89 points to 696
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive midday, with consumer staples up 1.6%, gold soaring 1.2%, and consumer discretionary stocks better by 0.9%.
The two laggards were energy, down 0.8%, and financials, down 0.1%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday, bouncing from the prior day's muted trade, as investors watched the dollar and calmer bond markets, amid mixed economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 155.71 points to 18,216.20, with Microsoft leading gains and Cisco the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index gained 15.78 points to 2,114.26, with information technology leading all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ hurtled higher 48.69 points to 5,030.38
Microsoft extended recent gains, rising as much as 2.5%. On Wednesday, Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold," noting “investor enthusiasm about Azure and Office 365 is just starting to kick in."
Information technology led gains in the S&P 500 as tech stocks such as Apple, Microsoft and IBM advanced.
Cisco posted earnings after the close Wednesday that beat on both the top and bottom lines. In a conference call, outgoing CEO John Chambers said product orders in Russia, Brazil and China declined year-over-year, with China orders falling 21%. Orders for the Americas gained 2% from the same period last year.
In corporate news, Paypal will trade under the ticker "PYPL" on Nasdaq after its split from eBay, Dow Jones reported.
Avon spiked on report of an acquisition offer by a firm whose existence could not be verified.
Cosi slid 7% after posting a loss of 12 cents a share, narrowing the 17-cent U.S. loss from the same period last year. Revenue came in at $17.9 million U.S., below $18.4 million U.S. in the year-ago period. Comparable store sales rose 4.4% in company-owned stores, while franchises saw a decrease of 2.7%.
Kohl's plunged more than 11%, on track for its worst day in more than two years. The retailer reported earnings per share of 63 cents U.S., a 5% increase from the year-ago period, on revenue of $4.12 billion U.S., a 1.3% gain from last year. First-quarter same-store sales rose 1.4%, contrasting with a 3.4%decline in the first quarter of 2014.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 264,000, a touch below last week's reading and below expectations for a slight increase. The initial filings for unemployment benefits per week remain near 15-year lows.
The producer price index for April fell 0.4%, with the core figure down 0.2%. The report was expected to show a slight uptick. The monthly measure of input costs is a secondary factor in determining the rate of change in prices, after the consumer price index.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.24% from Wednesday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 82 cents a barrel to $59.68 U.S.
Gold prices gained four dollars to $1,222.20 U.S.
