Equities in Toronto rose early on Thursday, as energy and gold mining stocks were lifted by higher commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 88.71 points to start Thursday at 12,681.73.
The Canadian dollar continued its march, gathering 0.65 cents to 73.22 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy reported a fourth-quarter operating loss and cut 2016 capital spending plans on Wednesday because of the collapse in global crude prices.
Suncor shares gained 78 cents, or 2.5%, to $32.33.
MEG Energy Corp posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss and cut its capital spending estimate for 2016 by nearly 50% to counter a prolonged slump in crude oil prices.
MEG shares triumphed 36 cents, or 6.7%, to $5.77.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on ATS Automation Tooling Systems to $14.00, with a buy rating.
ATS shares faded 16 cents, or 1.7%, to $9.10.
NBF cut the target price on Canadian Tire to $128.00 from $135.00, with a sector perform rating. Canadian Tire shares docked 65 cents to $114.93.
Barclays raises the rating on RONA Inc. to equal weight from underweight. RONA shares crept up six cents to $23.36.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.46 points early Thursday at 496.27
All but three of the 13 TSX subgroups were up, with metals and mining gaining 7.3%, while gold shone brighter by 3.9%, and materials better by 3.1%
The three laggards were consumer discretionaries, down 0.3%, consumer staples, sliding 0.2%, and information technology, nudging lower 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border rose slightly on Thursday as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data while keeping an eye on oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average tacked on 82.25 points to begin business Thursday at 16,418.91, with Pfizer leading decliners and Caterpillar the biggest advancer.
The S&P 500 dropped 8.83 points to 1,903.70, with health-care leading seven sectors lower and materials leading advancers.
The NASDAQ index recovered 11.51 points to 4,515.75, as Apple fell.
Prices for the "black gold" traded in a range Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate briefly dipping about 1%— erasing initial gains — before recovering to trade about 2.5% higher.
On the economic slate, U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity declined 3% in the fourth quarter, its biggest drop since the first quarter of 2014.
Meanwhile, U.S. jobless claims rose 8,000 to 285,000 last week, while economists were expecting a total of 280,000.
Despite the increase last week, claims remained below 300,000, a level associated with strong labour market conditions, for the 48th straight week. That is the longest run since the early 1970s.
Moreover, the Commerce Department declared that U.S. factory orders for December subsided 2.9%. Economists were expecting a 2.6% fall.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 1.88%.
Oil prices gained 88 cents a barrel to $33.16 U.S.
Gold prices grew $11.94 to $1,154.57 U.S. an ounce.
