Canada's benchmark stock index moved to within striking distance of the breakeven point by noon on Thursday as shares of a major oil producer surged on a strong earnings report, helping offset weakness among gold miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite came off its lows of the morning, but was still negative 13.55 points to greet noon at 15,586.13, after a gain Wednesday of 200 points.
The Canadian dollar docked 0.18 cents at 74.71 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources shares jumped 4.1% to $40.05 after reporting a quarterly profit that blew past analysts' expectations.
Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold producer, fell 3.3% to $24.41, and gold royalty company Franco-Nevada Corp declined 2.1% to $85.09.
Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 1% to $68.82 even as a strong performance in both the United States and Canada helped it close off bank earnings season with quarterly earnings modestly ahead of market expectations.
First Capital Realty Inc declined 3.6%to $20.29 after a shareholder said it would sell nine million of the retail property developer's shares.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that our economy progressed 0.3% during December, as real gross domestic product rose 0.6% in the fourth quarter, following a 0.9% increase in the third quarter.
The agency goes on to say final domestic demand continued to decelerate, with ongoing weakness in business investment.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 6.71 points to 815.35
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups had turned positive midday, led by health-care, better by 0.6%, while energy and information technology each rose 0.5%.
The three laggards were gold, slumping 2.9%, materials, slouching 2.3%, and real-estate, skidding 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded lower on Thursday as social media company Snap opened for trading, while expectations of tightening monetary policy increased.
The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 57.88 points to 21,057.67, after Wednesday’s 300-point surge, with IBM contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 lost 10.43 points to 2,385.53, with financials leading decliners.
The NASDAQ doffed 28.45 points to 5,875.58
Snap's stock rose more than 40% to about $24.50 after opening for trade, well above the $17.00 U.S. a share it priced its IPO. Investors eagerly awaited the IPO as they looked for clues on the health of the technology IPO market.
In economic news, initial U.S. jobless claims totaled 223,000, well below the expected 243,000. Last week's reading increased 6,000 to 244,000.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped, raising yields to 2.49% from Wednesday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 99 cents to $52.84 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $16.10 to $1,233.90 U.S. an ounce.
