Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday as Toronto Dominion Bank posted the strongest earnings beat among the country’s top banks and quarterly data showed Canada’s economic growth accelerated far more than expected.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 56.99 points to greet noon at 15,190.12
The Canadian dollar galloped 0.69 cents to 79.91 cents U.S.
TD Bank, Canada’s second-biggest lender, was by far the biggest influence on the index. Its shares rallied 2.9% to $66.77 after it reported earnings that topped expectations by a wider margin than its rivals in a quarter in which Canadian banks have outperformed market forecasts.
TD’s performance was bolstered by strong results from its North American retail businesses.
Canadian Western Bank was up 2.5% to $29.42 following better-than-expected results.
Cenovus Energy rose 2.4% to $9.66. Encana Corp rose 1.8% to $11.60.
Among gold issues, Goldcorp Inc gained 1.2% to $17.10.
Magna International was up 1.3% to $59.55. The company says it is developing a new self-driving vehicle system.
On the economic schedule, Statistics Canada reported that real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.1% in the second quarter, following a 0.9% gain in the first quarter. Expressed at an annualized rate, real GDP rose 4.5% in the second quarter. Experts were expecting a rise of 3.7% for Q2.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 2.29 points to 775.21
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, most notably energy, ahead 0.9%, information technology, gaining 0.7%, and gold, up 0.6%.
The three laggards were telecoms, sliding 0.7%, consumer staples, retreating 0.3%, and utilities, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday, the last trading day of the month, as Wall Street tried to end August on a high note. Investors also digested a broad swath of economic data ahead of a key employment report.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 43.32 points to pause for noon at 21,935.75, with UnitedHealth contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 tacked on 11.78 points to 2,469.37, with health-care leading nine sectors higher.
The NASDAQ improved 54.15 points to 6,422.46
Dollar General and Methode Electronics Inc. were among the companies reporting earnings Thursday.
Entering Thursday's session, the Dow was on track for a marginal monthly gain, while the NASDAQ was up 0.3% in August. The S&P was on track for a slight loss, however, and was set to snap a four-month winning streak.
Investors also digested key economic data released Thursday.
Weekly jobless claims totaled 236,000, matching estimates, while the so-called core personal consumption expenditures increased 1.4% in July on a year-over-year basis, the smallest gain since December 2015. The core PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, and it's lagging the central bank's 2% target.
Other economic data released Thursday included pending home sales, which fell 0.8% in June. The data deluge comes a day ahead of the U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly employment report, which is scheduled for release on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained a small bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.13% from Wednesday’s 2.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.21 to $47.17 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained back $8.80 to $1,322.90 U.S. an ounce.
