Equities in Canada’s biggest market soared on Thursday in a broad rally, led by steady oil prices that bolstered energy stocks, and a surge in BlackBerry Ltd shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index leaped 94.9 points to move into noon hour at 15,444.81
The Canadian dollar regained 0.07 cents at 74.16 cents U.S.
BlackBerry was among the most influential gainers, jumping 8.3% to $15.46 after Citron Research said it had a 24-month price target of $20 on the stock on expectations the software company will profit from the increasing application of its security and other software technology in various industries, such as automotive.
The financials group gained, helped in part by Element Fleet Management, which rebounded after Wednesday's losses related to unfounded speculation it was the short-selling target of hedge fund Muddy Waters.
Asanko Gold, which plunged 20% in earlier trading a day after Muddy Waters said it was shorting the company's stock, rebounded by late morning. Shares in the mining firm, which disputed Muddy Waters' claims, rose 11.2% to $2.44.
BRP Inc shares surged 13.9% to $37.44 after it reported a much stronger-than-expected quarterly result, and also announced a quarterly dividend and share repurchase.
Materials, home to precious and base metals miners, slipped, pinched by the price of gold.
Barrick Gold fell 0.9% to $22.15, while First Quantum Minerals fell 1.3% to $11.24.
On the economic front, the seasonally-adjusted IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index posted 55.1 in May, down only slightly from April’s six-year peak of 55.9.
As a result, the average reading for the second quarter of 2017 so far (55.5) points to the strongest improvement in business conditions since Q1 2011. The headline index has registered above the 50.0 no-change value in each month since March 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 0.26 points to 800.16
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by midday as energy and information technology each strengthened 1.5%, while health-care jumped 1.1%.
The two laggards were gold, down 0.4%, and materials, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Thursday, the first trading day in June, as investors parsed through key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials gathered 48.33 points to pause for lunch at 21,056.98, with UnitedHealth contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 gained 9.25 points to 2,421.05, to an all-time high, with materials and health care leading advancers. The health-care sector also reached its first 52-week high since March 15.
The NASDAQ jumped 26.44 points to 6,224.95, and hit a record intraday high earlier in the session.
In corporate news, shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise slipped more than 2% after the firm reported a significant decline in quarterly sales.
Meanwhile, Marathon Petroleum approved an additional $3 billion to its shares repurchase program.
All three indices are coming off solid monthly performances in May. S&P and NASDAQ posted monthly gains of 1.2% and 2.5%, respectively, while the Dow rose about 0.3% on the back of a subdued volatility environment.
Private payrolls surged by 253,000 in May, easily topping a consensus estimate of 185,000, according to a report from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
The report from ADP and Moody's is often seen as a preview to the U.S. government's monthly non-farm payrolls report, which is set for release Friday. Entering Thursday's session, economists expected the U.S. economy to have added 185,000 jobs, but JPMorgan's said it expects estimates to rise after ADP's beat.
Other data released Thursday included weekly jobless claims, which came in at 248,000, above a forecast of 239,000. The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index for May came in at 54.9, just below an estimate of 55.0. April construction spending fell 1.4% with economists forecasting a gain of 0.5%
Auto companies, meanwhile, released monthly vehicle sales throughout the day.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were lower, raising yields to 2.23% from Wednesday’s 2.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired 78 cents to $49.10 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices sank $9.20 at $1,266.20 U.S. an ounce.
