Equities in Canada’s largest centre ended barely lower on Thursday, its second straight marginal loss, as gains for energy companies as oil prices pushed higher were offset by losses for banks.
The S&P/TSX Composite eased lower 1.92 points to close at 14,695.68
The Canadian dollar galloped 0.49 cents to 78.35 cents U.S.
Energy stocks proved the mightiest of the bunch, as EnCana Corporation flew 72 cents, or 5.9%, to $12.95, while Baytex Energy hurtled higher 29 cents, or 4.2%, to $7.18.
Gold stocks also prospered, with Yamana Gold gaining nine cents, or 1.3%, to $7.00, while Torex Gold Resources added 49 cents, or 1.5%, to $33.31.
Health-care took the most bruises as Valeant Pharmaceuticals subtracted $1.32, or 3.4%, to $37.19
Consumer staples also finished in the red, as Alimentation Couche-Tard surrendered 28 cents to $62.17, while Loblaw Companies dropped $1.54, or 2.1%, to $71.60.
Financials were also badly off, as Manulife shed 12 cents to $17.00, with Sun Life backing off 26 cents to $40.96.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors increased their holdings of Canadian securities by $9.0 billion in June, with acquisitions led by significant portfolio investment in equities. At the same time, Canadian investors acquired $4.1 billion of foreign securities, mainly non-U.S. foreign equities.
What’s more, the agency went on to say those drawing regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in Canada totaled 545,900 in June, essentially unchanged from May. Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of people receiving regular EI benefits was up by 8,000 or 1.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.14 points to 837.62
Seven of the 13 subgroups moved upward, with energy gushing 1.3%, while utilities and gold each jumped 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.3%, consumer staples sinking 0.8%, and financials off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed slightly higher Thursday, amid surging oil prices, as investors digested fresh economic data as well as the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials gathered 23.76 points to 18,597.70, with Cisco Systems leading decliners and Wal-Mart the top riser.
The S&P 500 gained 4.8 points to 2,187.02, with energy leading four sectors higher and telecommunications the biggest laggard.
The NASDAQ Composite picked up 11.49 points to 5,240.15
Investors also digested quarterly results from Dow component Wal-Mart, which reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue and raised its full-year guidance. Wal-Mart shares were up 1.5% in afternoon trade.
In other corporate news, Caterpillar, another Dow component, saw its shares slide more than 1% after reporting a decline in July retail machine sale.
Stocks eked out gains following the minutes' release on Wednesday, having traded lower for most of the session.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims fell 4,000 to 262,000, while the August Philadelphia Fed business index came in line with expectations. Leading indicators were set to be released later on.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were higher, bumping down yields to 1.54% from Wednesday’s 1.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $1.44 a barrel to $48.23 U.S.
Gold prices regained $8.80 to $1,357.60 U.S. an ounce.
