Canadian stocks closed down slightly on Thursday, with markets enjoying their biggest monthly advance since October 2011.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index seesawed most of the day, but fell 9.62 points to finish Thursday and the month of March at 13,494.36.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.12 cents to 77.02 cents U.S.
The index jumped 4.9% in March for a 3.7% improvement this year, set for its best quarterly performance since the second quarter in 2014.
Energy stocks were the kings of the castle Thursday, as EnCanada galloped 25 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.92, and Suncor hiked 52 cents, or 1.5%, to $36.17.
Consumer staples dipped, as Premium Brands fell six cents to $54.81, and Teck Resources plummeted 29 cents, or 2.9%, to $9.85, to weigh on metals and mining.
Silver Wheaton Corp. dropped $1.33, or 5.8%, to $21.55, after the company said Wednesday it will raise at least $500 million by selling new shares.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated for a fifth day, losing $1.05, or 3%, to $34.05. It was reported Wednesday that the drug maker is offering lenders a one-time fee and extra interest on its loans in exchange for waiving a default caused by a delayed earnings filing.
Valeant’s stock has plunged almost 25% in five days.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that January’s Gross Domestic Product rose 0.6%, a fourth consecutive monthly increase. The agency attributes the rise to manufacturing, retail trade, and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
Moreover, StatsCan said, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $953 in January, down 0.7% from December. Compared with 12 months earlier, average weekly earnings were up 0.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.94 points to 578.83
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were negative on the day, as materials subsided 1.1%, consumer staples were lower by 0.8%, and metals and mining trailed Wednesday’s close by 0.5%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by energy, up 1.1%, utilities, up 0.5%, and consumer discretionaries gained 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed Thursday, the final trading day of the quarter, ahead of the monthly employment report due Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrials drooped 31.57 points to close at 17,685.09, with Boeing the greatest positive influence and IBM the biggest weight.
The S&P 500 fell 4.21 points to 2,059.74, with materials leading nine sectors lower and utilities the only advancer.
The NASDAQ index edged up 0.55 points Thursday to 4,869.85, with Microsoft up 0.3% and Apple closing 0.5% lower.
The Dow posted a quarterly hike of 1.5%, and the S&P 500 jumped 0.8%. Both trumpeted their second straight positive quarter.
The NASDAQ, on the other hand, had its worst first quarter since 2009 with a 2.8% quarterly decline. All three major averages recovered from an intra-quarter drop of more than 10%.
Morgan Stanley on Thursday raised its price target on IBM to $168.00 from $140.00 U.S.,, based on its prospects for improving revenue. Shares of "Big Blue" closed 2% higher.
In economic news, initial jobless claims came in at 276,000. Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index numbers rose to 53.6 in March from 47.6 in February.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 1.78% from Wednesday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped two cents a barrel to $38.30 U.S.
Gold prices moved higher $7.18 to $1,232.20 U.S. an ounce.
