Equity markets in Toronto opened higher on Thursday, extending four straight days of gains, with the heavily-weighted financial stocks leading the charge following Wednesday's Bank of Canada interest rate cut.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved forward 67.73 points to open Thursday at 14,730.01
The Canadian dollar nicked down 0.03 cents at 77.40 cents U.S.
The National Energy Board has concluded that Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. is operating safely, despite finding the pipeline operator had violated rules designed to identify threats to the public and protect whistleblowers.
Enbridge shares opened Thursday up 15 cents to $58.66.
Sun Life Financial said it has been selected as the custodian and record keeper for the University of British Columbia Faculty Pension Plan in a deal involving $2 billion in assets. Under the terms of the deal Sun Life will be the custodian and record keeper for 5,800 plan members.
Sun Life shares progressed 33 cents to $43.16.
CIBC cuts price target on Corus Entertainment Inc to $16.50 from $18.50 following the company’s third-quarter earnings that were very weak.
Corus shares tumbled 84 cents, or 5.6%, to $14.14.
CIBC raised the price target on New Flyer Industries Inc. to $16.50 from $15.75 as the company reported second quarter deliveries that were in line with expectations. New Flyer shares triumphed 54 cents, or 3.4%, to $16.31.
Colabor Group reports second-quarter earnings today, projecting four cents per share. Colabor shares acquired five cents to $1.24.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $5.4 billion in May, led by a divestment in equities. Meanwhile, Canadian investors added $5.6 billion of foreign securities to their portfolios, mainly corporate securities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.26 points to 641.25
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were in the green in the first hour, with consumer staples up 1%, while financials and real-estate were in a dead heat for second, each gaining 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 1.3%, materials, down 0.9%, and metals and mining, off 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday as investors focused on earnings beats amid progress towards near-term resolution in the Greek debt crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 18.47 points to 18,068.66,
The S&P 500 gained 12.43 points to 2,119.83,
The NASDAQ index triumphed 39.67 points to 5,138.61, its highest level since the tech bubble in March 2000, with top-weighted stocks
Apple, Microsoft and Amazon each gaining nearly 1%.
Corporate results after the bell Wednesday were strong. Netflix surged more than 11% to an all-time high after reporting solid subscriber growth that topped expectations. The video streaming site also posted earnings that beat estimates on revenue that barely missed forecasts.
Intel also jumped 2% after beating on both the top and bottom lines in its second-quarter earnings report.
Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Blackstone, Charles Schwab, UnitedHealth, eBay and Phillip Morris were among the firms reporting second-quarter earnings before the market open.
Before the market open, Citigroup continued the trend of relatively strong performance in financials so far. The bank delivered quarterly results that topped analysts' expectations on both the top and bottom lines, for the largest quarterly profit in eight years.
Goldman Sachs posted quarterly earnings that fell sharply from the previous year, hit by a large litigation charge. The investment bank did top revenue estimates but missed significantly on earnings per share.
Google, Schlumberger, Mattel, Advanced Micro, Celanese and Cintas are expected to report after the closing bell.
In economic news, U.S. weekly jobless claims came in at 281,000, better than the 285,000 estimate.
The Philadelphia Fed survey came in at 5.7 for July, off June's 15.2 read. The NAHB survey showed U.S. homebuilder sentiment hit a 10-year high.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 2.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 25 cents a barrel to $51.66 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $4.70 at $1,142.70 U.S. an ounce.
