Equities in Canada’s largest market peeked into positive territory by the close Thursday, as gains in energy overcame losses in the gold and materials sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite was positive 6.51 points to close Thursday at 14,803.26
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.28 cents at 77.33 cents U.S.
The sector taking the biggest hit proved to be gold, as Kinross Gold got bruised 11 cents, or 1.9%, to $5.74, and Barrick Gold dipped 51 cents, or 2.1%, to $23.87.
Materials stocks also did not fare well, as Teck Resources backtracked 17 cents to $21.90.
Among consumer staples, Alimentation Couche-Tard faded $1.04, or 1.6%, to $65.31, while grocer Loblaw descended $1.22, or 1.7%, to $69.77.
Energy did its best to make up for the negatives, as Whitecap Resources gushed 77 cents to 7.6%, to $10.85, while EnCana triumphed 58 cents, or 4.4%, to $13.73.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that municipalities issued building permits worth $6.5 billion in July, up 0.8% from the previous month, while the new housing price index rose 0.4% in July compared with the previous month, driven mainly by new housing prices in the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.71 points to 825.60
All but two of 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the day, with gold skidding 1.9%, materials fading 1.3%, and consumer staples falling 1.2%.
The two gainers were energy, up 2.1%, while real estate eked up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities stateside traded lower Thursday, despite a surge in oil prices, as investors digested the European Central Bank's latest monetary policy decision and remarks made by its president, Mario Draghi.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 46.23 points to 18,479.91, with Apple leading decliners and Chevron the top advancer.
The S&P 500 skidded 4.86 points to 2,181.30, with information technology leading six sectors lower and energy the top riser.
The NASDAQ Composite slid 24.44 points to 5,259.48, to snap a four-day winning streak, as Apple slid more than 2%.
Apple's stock fell a day after unveiling its latest iPhone model. On Thursday, the firm said it will not release pre-order numbers for the phone, saying those figures were "no longer a representative metric for our investors and consumers."
Investors also scrutinized economic data from the U.S., with weekly jobless claims coming in 4,000 lower at 259,000.
Other data released Thursday included the Energy Information Administration's release of weekly crude inventories, which showed a drawdown of 14.5 million barrels last week.
The ECB kept interest rates unchanged and did not announce an extension of its quantitative easing program. Draghi said in a news conference the central bank did not discuss an extension of said program, but added the program will run until the end of next March or beyond, if necessary.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury swooned, boosting yields to 1.61% from Wednesday’s 1.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on $1.92 at $47.42 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices ditched $8.10 at $1,341.10 U.S. an ounce.
