Canada's main stock index rose to a fresh 11-month high on Thursday led by financial and energy stocks as oil rose and after a major U.S. bank reported second-quarter profit that beat estimates.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 46.64 points to greet noon at 14,540.44
The Canadian dollar gained 0.48 cents to 77.56 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 1% to $80.06, and Manulife Financial, which advanced 1.8% to $17.83.
Gold fell after the Bank of England surprised investors by leaving interest rates unchanged.
Barrick Gold Corp fell 0.8% to $27.14.
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 recovered 4.86 points to 762.55
Eight of the 13 subgroups were higher by noon, as health-care was better by 1.3%, metals and mining climbed 0.9%, and financials picked up 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.4%, materials, falling 0.5%, and real-estate, down 0.3%.
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 leaped 125.36 points from Wednesday’s all-time high to 18,497.48, with JPMorgan Chase leading advancers with Verizon and UnitedHealth the only laggards.
The S&P 500 gained 11.11 points to 2,163.54, hitting a fresh intra-day high, led there by financials.
The NASDAQ Composite Index gained 27.73 points to 5,033.49, as Apple shares rose more than 1.5%.
The United Kingdom's central bank kept interest rates unchanged, while market consensus was for a 25 basis point rate cut to 0.25%, which would have been the bank's first move since 2009.
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 were positive 77 cents a barrel to $45.52 U.S.
Gold prices fell $13.60 to $1,329.70 U.S. an ounce.
