Equities in Canada’s biggest market rumbled upwards, led by railway stocks, financials and miners while the energy sector also notched gains despite a slip in crude oil prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index skyrocketed 181.48 points, or 1.4%, to close Thursday at 12,774.50.
The Canadian dollar remained positive 0.17 cents to 72.74 cents U.S.
Miners led the pack, with stocks such as Teck Resources galloping 68 cents, or 13%, to $5.91, while Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan bolted up 90 cents, or 4.1%, to $23.09.
The gold patch had an impressive day, as Barrick Gold climbed 64 cents, or 4.3%, to $15.41, while Goldcorp popped 87 cents, or 5.1%, to $17.99.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.28 points Thursday afternoon at 504.48
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups remained in the green by day’s end, with metals and mining strengthening 12.9%, while materials brightened 4.8%, and gold was better by 4.2%
The lone laggards were information technology, lower by 0.5%, and consumer staples, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed slightly higher in choppy trading Thursday as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data and kept an eye
on falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average stayed positive 79.92 points to finish at 16,416.58, with Caterpillar leading advancers and Nike the biggest laggard.
The S&P 500 recovered 2.7 points to 1,915.23, with consumer staples leading seven sectors lower and materials the greatest advancer.
The NASDAQ index regained 5.32 points to 4,509.56.
In corporate news, investors digested a slew of earnings reports from companies like AstraZeneca, Cigna, and Philip Morris, among others.
ConocoPhillips also posted quarterly results, while at the same time slashing its dividend. The company's stock fell about 8%.
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 U.S. Labor Department said productivity declined 3% in the fourth quarter, its biggest drop since the first quarter of 2014.
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 slightly higher, dropping yields to 1.86% from Wednesday’s 1.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 58 cents a barrel to $31.70 U.S.
Gold prices grew $13.60 to $1,156.27 U.S. an ounce.
