Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre rose on Thursday as a rally in crude oil prices supported energy and financial sector stocks, offsetting weaker mining stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 90.29 points to open Thursday at 12,468.06
The Canadian dollar improved 0.39 cents to 71.34 cents U.S.
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and slashed its quarterly dividend, hurt by weakening fertilizer prices.
Potash shares slashed 36 cents, or 1.7%, to $21.08.
Shares of Bombardier closed below $1.00 on Wednesday for the first time since 1991, putting the company at risk of being pushed out of major Canadian indices.
Bombardier shares faded six cents, or 6.1%, to 93 cents.
Enbridge said it would buy Murphy Oil Corp's Tupper Main and Tupper West gas plants in northeastern British Columbia for $538 million
Enbridge shares advanced $1.01, or 2.2%, to $46.40.
Barclays cut the target price on Canadian Natural Resources to $3.00 from $37.00
Canadian Natural Resources gained $1.66, or 6%, to $29.34.
BMO raised the price target on CGI Group to $63.00 from $59.00 with an outperform rating. CGI shares took on 58 cents, or 1%, to $58.30
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Rogers Communications to $50.00 from $49.00, with a hold rating.
Rogers shares fell 84 cents, or 1.8%, to $47.29.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 2.29 points to 492.16.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher to start out, as energy gushed 4%, metals and mining proved 1.9% stronger, and financials gained 1.1%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by gold, dulling in price 3.8%, materials, fading 2%, and health-care, off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher Thursday, helped by some encouraging earnings reports, as oil extended a recent recovery from multi-year lows.
The Dow Jones industrial average regained 68.1 points to 16,012.56. Chevron and Caterpillar were among the top contributors to gains.
The S&P 500 gained 16.96 points to 1,899.91. Energy jumped more than 3.5% to lead S&P 500 advancers
The NASDAQ index recovered 23.01 points to 4,491.18, as Facebook briefly rose more than 13.5% and Apple attempted to hold higher.
Facebook reported earnings after the close Wednesday that blew past estimates, with the firm beating the $1-billion U.S. mark in quarterly net income for the first time ever.
Caterpillar reported adjusted fourth-quarter profit of 74 cents U.S. per share, five cents above estimates, though revenue was light.
Caterpillar does see full-year 2016 profit above current Street estimates, as it benefits from cost controls and restructuring.
Durable goods fell 5.1% in December, far more than expectations for a less-than 1% decline. Ex-transportation, the figure declined 1.2%
Weekly jobless claims came in at 278,000.
Pending home sales rose just 0.1% in December from a downwardly revised November print.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 2.01% from Wednesday’s 2%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved $1.57 a barrel to $33.87 U.S.
Gold prices sank $10.60 to $1,114.37 U.S. an ounce.
