Equity markets in Canada’s biggest centre gained in early trade on Thursday, as hikes in oil prices after two days of sharp losses boosted energy concerns.
The S&P/TSX Composite grew 72.53 points to open Thursday at 14,438.
The Canadian dollar inched back 0.01 cents to 75.77 cents U.S.
Dundee Capital cuts the rating on Canadian Zinc to neutral from buy. Canadian Zinc shares faded 1.5 cents, or 4.6%, to 31 cents.
CIBC raised the target price on Industrial Alliance Insurance to $51.00 from $46.00. Industrial Alliance gained 81 cents, or 1.8%, to $46.80.
CIBC raised the target price on Sun Life Financial to $47.00 from $46.00.
Sun Life shares pumped higher 50 cents, or 1.2%, to $41.12.
On the economic slate, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported Thursday that national home sales declined for a fourth consecutive month last month, falling 3.1% from July to August.
CREA says actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity came in 10.2% above August 2015. The number of newly listed homes declined 2.7% from July to August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 2.92 points to 799.43
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, as financials and utilities each galloped 0.9%, while energy powered 0.8% higher
The two laggards were gold, slumping 1.3%, and materials, off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher on Thursday as investors parsed through a series of economic data as the Federal Reserve's next meeting draws near.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 58.21 points to 18,092.98, with Apple contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 moved upward 7.21 points to 2,132.98, with energy leading advancers.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 35.93 points, to 5,209.70, with Apple gaining more than 2.5%. The iPhone maker's stock was up more than 11% for the week.
Initial jobless claims came in at 260,000, slightly below expectations, while August Producer Price Index came in unchanged, missing expectations. Retail sales for August missed expectations, falling more than expected. Meanwhile, industrial production fell 0.4% in August, more than the expected 0.3% slide.
Business inventories for July came in unchanged versus an estimated rise of 0.1%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped, raising yields to 1.72% from Wednesday’s 1.7%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite
directions
Oil prices gained five cents at $43.63 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dipped $10.90 at $1,325.90 U.S. an ounce.
