Markets in this country advanced for a fifth consecutive day on Thursday, as gains in banks and consumer companies offset declines by oil producers in a holiday-shortened trading session.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 24.89 points to conclude the last, shortened, session before Christmas at 13,309.80, its longest wining streak since Oct. 8.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.03 cents to 72.15 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada hiked 64 cents to $75.64, and Bank of Nova Scotia increased 47 cents to $57.95, as financial services companies rose as a group. Pop and bottled water maker Cott Corp., the fourth best-performing stock in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index this year, added 11 cents to $15.20.
The TSX closed at 1 p.m. Thursday for the Christmas holiday and will re-open on Tuesday, Dec. 29.
Goldcorp added 50 cents, or 3.1%, to $16.98, and Barrick Gold Corp. rose 21 cents, or 2% to $10.85, as the metal climbed after two days of losses.
Dominion Diamond Corp. leaped 39 cents, or 2.9%, to $14.03, after two directors resigned for personal reasons, the company said. The diamond mining company has jumped 17% this week after coming under pressure for change from a group of investors led by Toronto-based hedge fund K2 & Associates Investment Management.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange acquired 5.4 points to 516.83
Nine of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher by the session’s end, as gold shot higher 2%, while health-care and utilities soared 1.1% each.
The four laggards were weighed most by metals and mining, down 0.9%, energy, down 0.7%, and telecoms, off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks ended mixed in the shortened Christmas Eve session Thursday, holding most of the gains for a week in which commodities and beaten-down sectors of the market led the path upward.
The Dow Jones industrial average faltered 50.44 points to 17,552.17, as Walt Disney and DuPont rose.
Chevron declined more than 1% and Exxon Mobil was also more than 0.5% lower to weigh on the Dow.
The S&P 500 fell 3.42 points to 2,060.87. The index failed to hold intraday attempts at gains as energy led all sectors except health care lower.
The NASDAQ index eked up 2.56 points to 5,048.49, as semiconductor stocks and biotech stocks gained.
The major U.S. averages ended the week about 2.5% higher or more, their best week since the one ended Nov. 20.
In corporate news, Nike's two-for-one stock split took effect Thursday. The new shares traded more than 1.5% lower in midday trade.
Thursday was a half day for Christmas Eve. Markets are closed Friday for Christmas Day.
In economic news, U.S. weekly jobless claims came in at 267,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.24% from Wednesday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 52 cents a barrel to $38.02 U.S.
Gold prices progressed $6.51 to $1,077.01 U.S. an ounce.
