Stocks crept up slightly on Thursday after U.S. crude oil hit its lowest level since February 2009, weighing on the resource-linked market.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 6.84 points soon after the opening bell to 12,944.43
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.03 cents to 73.70 cents U.S.
Cenovus Energy Inc said it expects to spend between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion in 2016, 19% lower than its budget for this year, in response to a steep decline in crude prices. Cenovus shares faded 13 cents to $18.55.
OpenText Corp.’s CEO says his company plans roughly to double its revenue and cash flows in the next few years largely through acquisitions. Open Text shares opened 27 cents to $64.50.
CIBC cut the target price on Dollarama to $90.00 from $94.00. Dollarama shares dumped $1.95, or 2.4%, to $79.75.
CIBC then cut its target price on Empire Company to $27.00 from $28.00. Shares in the parent company of grocer Sobeys slid 62 cents, or 2.4%, to $25.41.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Gibson Energy to $20.00 from $23.00. Gibson shares dipped 20 cents, or 1.5%, to $13.59.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that its New Housing Price Index rose 0.3% in October, following a 0.1% increase in September. The gain was largely attributable to higher new home prices in Ontario.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 0.04 points to 505.20.
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with utilities, gold and materials each up 0.8%.
The two laggards were industrials, down 0.3%, and health-care subsiding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stateside stocks traded in a range on Thursday after U.S. crude oil hit its lowest level since February 2009, weighing on the resource-linked market.
The Dow Jones industrial average recouped 36.35 points to 17,528.65, with Caterpillar leading advancers and DuPont the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 regained 7.43 points to 2,055.05, with energy leading seven sectors higher, and utilities the biggest laggard.
The NASDAQ index recovered 7.36 points to 5,030.42.
Chevron said it plans to cut its budget back 24% next year as oil prices are expected to remain low. Reuters notes the dramatic cutback in spending is likely to be echoed by other oil majors who will soon release spending plans, with rival ConocoPhillips set to release its 2016 budget on Thursday.
Glencore’s CEO said the company aims to cut net debt by almost $3 billion U.S. to $13 billion U.S. by the end of next year. The firm also plans to cut capital spending to $3.8 billion U.S. in 2016, down from $5 billion U.S.
Moody's Investors Service downgraded all ratings for Petrobras to Ba3 from Ba2 and placed them on review for possible further downgrade. Moody's also put Brazil's Baa3 rating on review for downgrade.
Investors also digested two economic data sets Thursday morning, with initial jobless claims rising to 282,000. Economists polled by Reuters expected the number to come in at 269,000.
Other economic data sets due Thursday include natural gas inventories due at 10:30 a.m. ET, a 30-year bond auction at 1 p.m. ET, and the Treasury budget due at 2 p.m.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury stayed put, maintaining yields at Wednesday’s 2.22%.
Oil prices gave back 43 cents a barrel to $36.73 U.S.
Gold prices dropped 22 cents to $1,072.56 U.S. an ounce.
