Equities were virtually unchanged by midday Thursday as shares of insurer Manulife Financial Corp plunged after poor earnings and the exit of a major investor hurt Canadian Pacific Railway stock.
The S&P/TSX Composite nosed ahead 0.06 points to greet noon at 14,512.11
The Canadian dollar gained 0.16 cents to 76.69 cents U.S.
Manulife, Canada's biggest life insurer, fell 5.5% to $16.93 after its lower profit missed expectations and it warned of an impending charge while keeping its dividend steady.
Canadian Pacific declined 3.7% to $185.37, after billionaire investor William Ackman's hedge fund sold its roughly $1.5-billion stake in the railway.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 1.7% to $38.77 after reporting a smaller quarterly loss as lower expenses helped offset a slump in crude prices.
Earnings beats helped engineering company SNC-Lavalin Group rise 2.6% to $57.33 and retailer Canadian Tire gain 1.2% to $138.68.
BCE rose 0.5% to $62.11 after Canada's largest telecommunications company notched strong growth in wireless.
Stock exchange operator TMX Group Ltd rose 3.7% to $60.86 after reporting a more than doubling of second-quarter profit late on Wednesday.
Agrium fell 2% to $115.25 after recording a 16% profit drop and lowering its profit guidance for the year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 2.13 points to 807.31
Nine of the 13 subgroups were higher, with energy gushing 1.2%, gold up 0.8%, and materials up 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by consumer staples and financials, each down 0.8%, and industrials, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed on Thursday, with utilities leading, as investors looked ahead for Friday's jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials eked ahead 14.34 points to 18,369.34, with Home Depot contributing the most to losses.
The S&P 500 picked up 3.36 points to 2,167.15, with utilities leading six sectors higher and financials lagging.
The NASDAQ Composite moved up 11.7 points to 5,171.44
Meanwhile, earnings season in the U.S. continued to wind down, as Viacom, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Kellogg, among others, posted quarterly results. Tesla Motors also posted quarterly results Wednesday after the bell, falling short of estimates on both the top and bottom line.
Investors also digested U.S. economic data, as weekly jobless claims came in slightly above expectations. U.S. factory orders for June fell 1.5%, less than expected.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release the July jobs report Friday morning.
Investors also pondered the Bank of England's first rate cut since 2009.
Besides lowering rates, the BOE also increased its government bond-buying program by £60 billion to £435 billion
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 1.5% from Wednesday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 92 cents a barrel to $41.75 U.S.
Gold prices stayed positive $4.80 to $1,369.50 U.S. an ounce.
