Stocks in Canada’s biggest centre pulled away from breakeven on the first trading day of September, flexing some muscle by the close, mostly on the strength of gold and materials issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained a solid 85.96 points to end Thursday at 14,683.91
The Canadian dollar added 0.16 cents at 76.47 cents U.S.
Gold stocks enjoyed the most success Thursday, with Yamana Gold hiking 24 cents, or 4.5%, to $5.55, and Barrick Gold leaping 98 cents, or 4.4%, to $23.27.
Base metals stocks were also stronger, Teck Resources climbing 36 cents, or 1.7%, to $21.61, and First Quantum Minerals jumping 10 cents, or 1.1%, to $10.04.
Both Potash Corp and Agrium Inc slipped after two days of gains tied to their announcement of talks to merge. Farmers plan to pressure regulators to protect their interests in any deal.
Potash Corp declined 45 cents, or 1.9% to $23.31, while Agrium nosed up 14 cents to $126.50
Health-care stocks were among the losing groups of the day, with Concordia International stumbling 38 cents, or 3.3%, to $11.04.
Energy stocks were a little off, as Suncor Energy slid 36 cents, or 1%, to $35.20,
On the economic front, the Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 51.1 in August, down from 51.9 in July, to signal a marginal overall improvement in business conditions.
The headline index has now posted above the 50.0 no-change mark for six months running, but the latest reading was the weakest recorded during this period.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 8.25 points to 794
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups turned higher on the day, with gold shining 3.2% brighter, materials stronger by 2.1%, and information technology, better by 1%.
The two laggards were health-care, down 0.3%, and energy, down 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mostly flat Thursday as investors digested a slew of economic data ahead of Friday's key jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials struggled to gain 18.42 points to end the session at 18,419.30, with American Express leading decliners and Wal-Mart the top advancer.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.09 points to 2,170.86, with energy leading six sectors lower and materials the top advancer.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 13.99 points to 5,227.21
The August employment report is due for release Friday morning. Investors will closely read the report, looking for clues about whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in September.
Experts say market expectations for a September rate hike were at 30% Thursday morning
Second-quarter productivity dropped at a 0.6% annualized rate, while weekly jobless claims came in at 263,000, slightly above expectations.
Other data due Thursday include the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index, which came in at 49.4, the weakest read since January. The Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index stateside came in at 52.0. A number above 50 reflects expansion.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 1.57% from Wednesday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $1.22 at $43.48 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices remained positive $5.60 at $1,317.00 U.S. an ounce.
