Stocks in Canada’s largest centre edged higher on Thursday, as gains in gold stocks helped offset losses in the key financial and energy groups.
The S&P/TSX Composite jumped 56.31 points to open Thursday – the second-last trading session of 2016 -- at 15,417.41
The Canadian dollar took on 0.13 cents to 73.79 cents U.S.
The parent company of restaurant chains Burger King and Tim Hortons plan to switch to chicken raised without antibiotics, which is considered "critically important" to human medicine, making it the latest company to ditch the drugs over health concerns.
Restaurant Brands International gained 17 cents to $64.64,
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 5.75 points to 751.69
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups started the session higher, with gold sprinting 3.3%, materials ahead 1.9%, and consumer staples, up 0.4%.
The three laggards were financials and utilities, each down 0.03%, and industrials, inching lower 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday after stalling out a day earlier, but some investors can't agree on whether the market has checked out for the year or is just taking a breather.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 20.52 points to 19,854.20, after Wednesday’s triple-digit loss.
The S&P 500 poked up 1.2 points to 2,251.12, following its biggest one-day drop since Oct. 11 after every sector turned negative
The NASDAQ composite index dropped 2.56 points to 5,435.99
On the data front, jobless claims declined by 10,000 to 265,000, according to Thursday morning's U.S. Labor Department report, the 95th straight week that claims were below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labour market. Jobless claims were expected to drop to 264,000 for the week ending Dec. 24, according to economists.
The Energy Department will issue its weekly report on natural gas inventories later this year, which traders are likely to scrutinize as natural gas prices sit at a two-year high. Investors will also get the holiday-delayed report on oil and gasoline inventories.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.49% from Wednesday’s 2.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 10 cents to $53.96 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $7.20 to $1,148.10 U.S. an ounce.
