Stocks in Canada’s largest centre opened slightly higher on Thursday, as materials stocks bounced and industrial and financial stocks slipped.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 30.86 points to open the session on Thursday at 14,564.43
The Canadian dollar nicked up 0.1 cents to 76.66 cents U.S.
Encana Corp reported an unexpected quarterly operating profit, helped by a cost-cutting drive, and said it would raise its 2016 capital expenditure program.
EnCanada shares galloped 62 cents, or 5.9%, to $11.05.
Precision Drilling Corp posted a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss, hurt by the lowest drilling activity in decades during the period as oil producers slashed spending.
Precision shares acquired two cents to $6.17.
Australia's antitrust watchdog on Thursday gave the green light to a A$9.1-billion ($6.79-billion U.S.) buyout of rail freight giant Asciano Ltd by a global consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc., whose shares doffed 20 cents to $45.79.
Desjardins cut the target price on Colabor Group to $1.20 from $1.50. Colabor shares lost a penny to 91 cents.
UBS raised the target price on Canadian Pacific Railway to $225.00 from $193.00. CP chugged along $1.28 to $197.54.
Dundee raised the target price on Norbord Inc. to $38.00 from $35.00. Shares in Norbord picked up 41 cents, or 1.4%, to $30.75.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada revealed that those drawing regular employment insurance totaled 544,900 in May up 4,800, or 0.9%, from the previous month, while wholesale trade rose 1.8% to $55.9 billion in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed up 2.34 points to 757.16
Eight of the 13 subgroups gained ground, with metals and mining rallying 2.6%, gold up 1.9%, and materials better by 1.5%
The five laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, down 0.5%, utilities, off 0.4%, and financials, sliding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mixed Thursday as Wall Street kept an eye on corporate earnings and economic data after record highs for the Dow and S&P this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 34.17 points to 18,560.86, as Intel weighed, and Caterpillar lent the most positive impact.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.29 points to 2,172.73, as technology and health-care led four sectors in the green.
The NASDAQ moved up 8.61 points to 5,098.54
Among Dow transport stocks, Southwest Airlines plunged after reporting record quarterly profit but a miss for Wall Street estimates. Shares of the company fell nearly 10% in early trading.
General Motors reported a record second-quarter profit Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares up more than 6% in pre-market trading. Intel beat analysts' expectations for earnings on Wednesday, but revenues came in lower than expected. Fellow chipmaker Qualcomm beat Wall Street expectations and issued a strong forward guidance.
Bank results continued to surprise this week, with Morgan Stanley reporting earnings of 75 cents U.S. per share versus consensus expectations of 59 cents. Morgan Stanley joined Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America on the list of U.S. financial institutions topping second-quarter profit forecasts.
Of the 70 S&P 500 companies reporting as of Wednesday, 67% beat estimates. Starbucks, AT&T, Capital One, Visa, Schlumberger, Boston Beer and Chipotle report after the bell.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a three-month low last week, in a sign that the labour market down south is stabilizing.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 253,000. Economists expected claims to rise to 265,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, raising yields to 1.61% from Wednesday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices waned 14 cents a barrel to $45.61 U.S.
Gold prices strengthened 70 cents to $1,320 U.S. an ounce.
