Equities in Toronto rose to a fresh 11-month high on Thursday, led by energy and financial stocks as oil rallied.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 49.54 points to open Thursday at 14,543.34
The Canadian dollar gained 0.22 cents to 77.3 cents U.S.
CIBC raised the target price on Birchcliff Energy to $10.00 from $7.00 based on the acquisition of EnCana's Gordondale Montney asset by the company
Birchcliff shares soared 67 cents, or 8.5%, to $8.53.
Colabor Group reports Q2 earnings today, projecting seven cents per share. Colabor shares rocketed 12 cents, or 13.6%, to $1.00.
theScore projects a Q3 loss of two cents per share. Its shares gained half a cent, or 8.5%, to 27.5 cents.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index rose 0.7% in May, following a 0.3% increase in April.
The agency calls this the largest monthly advance since July 2007, mainly driven by higher new housing prices in the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa and in Vancouver.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 3.68 points to 754.01
All but three of the 13 subgroups were higher to start out, as health-care zoomed 1.3%, energy gained 0.8%, and financials picked up 0.7%.
The two laggards were gold, down 2.1%, and materials skidded 1%. Consumer staples were unchanged shortly after the opening.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded sharply higher Thursday after the Bank of England hinted at looser monetary policy next month and as earnings season kicked into full gear.
The Dow Jones Industrials piled on another 138.57 points from Wednesday’s all-time high to 18,510.69, with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and IBM among the top gains contributed.
The S&P 500 gained 14.23 points to 2,166.66, led higher by financials.
The NASDAQ Composite Index recovered 30.66 points to 5,036.38
Earnings season in the U.S. came in full swing, with JPMorgan Chase easily beating estimates and BlackRock posting results in line with expectations.
Shares of JPMorgan rose about 2.5% in mid-morning trade, while BlackRock's stock gained nearly 1%.
On the data front, investors digested the latest reading of weekly jobless claims, which showed no change week over week. Meanwhile, the June reading of the producer price index showed an increase of 0.5%, above the expected 0.3% rise.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury retreated, boosting yields to 1.54% from Wednesday’s 1.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired 44 cents a barrel to $45.19 U.S.
Gold prices fell 18.20 to $1,325.40 U.S. an ounce.
