Equities in Toronto slipped a mite on Thursday as weakness in the financial and energy sectors weighed, offsetting a gain in gold-mining shares that benefited from a higher bullion price.
The S&P/TSX composite index faltered 22.04 points soon after Thursday’s opening bell to 14,710.94
The Canadian dollar shot higher 0.47 cents to 82.24 cents U.S.
Alignvest Acquisition Corp set up primarily to buy an operating asset, said on Wednesday it is raising almost double the money it set out to generate via an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The company said it plans to sell 22.5 million units at $10 a unit and raise $225 million. It had initially set out to raise $125 million by selling 12.5 million units at $10.00 apiece.
First Quantum Mineral hopes Zambia's government and mining firms will settle on a tax regime that will encourage investment in Africa's number-two copper producer, a senior executive said.
First Quantum shares were unchanged at $17.47.
Brazil's agriculture minister traveled to Miami on Wednesday to try to increase the sale of Brazilian coffee to restaurant chains Burger King and Tim Hortons, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tim Hortons currently imports 90,000 tonnes of coffee, a third of which comes from Brazil, the ministry said. Tim Hortons and Burger King are owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc., whose shares listed lower by a dime to $45.75.
RBC raised the target price on Cenovus Energy Inc to $25.00 from $24.00 considering that the company is taking concrete steps to reposition itself for sustainable growth in shareholder value. Cenovus took on seven cents to $20.76.
Salman Partners raised the target price on Urthecast Corp. to $4.50 from $4.00 to reflect the company’s opportunities abound after a successful high resolution camera first light event. Urthecast shares took on 11 cents per share, or 3.1%, to $3.71.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that there were 521,300 people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in April, up only 0.5% from March and down 0.4% from 12 months earlier.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 1.75 points to 683.32.
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers.
Gold shone 1.1% brighter, while real-estate improved 0.7%, and materials took on 0.4%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by global base metals, down 0.8%, while consumer discretionaries and energy each sank 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday as investors eyed economic data following Wednesday's Fed statement and awaited developments on the Greece debt talks.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 162.09 points to 18,097.83
The S&P 500 index gained 11.72 points to 2,112.16,
The NASDAQ climbed 41.04 points to 5,105.92
In corporate news, Oracle reported adjusted quarterly profit of 78 cents U.S. per share, eight cents below Street forecasts. Revenue also missed estimates, with the software maker hurt by a stronger dollar. It did, however, see sales growth in its cloud-based offerings.
Apple is generating sizable profits from sales of Apple Watch bands, according to data seen by Reuters. Many buyers of the watch are buying more than one band, according to data provided by research firm Slice Intelligence.
Barclays downgraded Southwest Airlines’ stock to underweight from overweight, saying the stock is now trading at too large a premium to its peers.
Economically speaking, the May consumer price index showed an increase of 0.4%, its largest increase in more than two years as gasoline prices surged.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 267,000 for a larger-than-expected decline. The Conference Board's leading index for May and the Philadelphia Fed's business outlook indicator for June are also on the calendar.
The Philadelphia Fed index for June posted 15.2, above May's read of 6.7.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries lagged, raising yields to 2.34% from Wednesday’s 2.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up four cents a barrel to $59.96 U.S.
Gold prices leaped $24.30 at $1,201.10 U.S. an ounce.
