Equities in Canada rose on Thursday as the financial and energy groups gained ground, while shares of Aecon Group Inc surged 19% after the company agreed to be bought by China’s CCC International Holding Ltd.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 39.34 points to open for business Thursday at 15,894.11
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.07 cents to 78.04 cents U.S.
Aecon, for its part, hurtled $3.18, or 19.3%, higher to $19.70.
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday and tightened its full-year earnings forecast as costs increased.
Potash shares dwindled 41 cents, or 1.6%, to $24.73.
Suncor Energy reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on Wednesday due to record production and strong refinery output.
Suncor shares gained $1.10, or 2.6%, to $43.25.
Teck Resources said its third-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, lifted by higher coal and metal prices.
Teck shares fell $1.40, or 4.8%, to $27.88.
Canaccord Genuity ups target price on Agnico Eagle Mines to $78 from $77. Agnico Eagle shares rallied $3.97, or 7.1%, to $60.17.
National Bank of Canada starts coverage on Jamieson Wellness with an outperform rating. Jamieson shares dipped 10 cents to $18.73.
CIBC raises price target on West Fraser Timber Co to $80 from $75. West Fraser shares inched up nine cents to $80.13.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said average weekly earnings were $975 in August, up 0.9% from the previous month. Compared with the previous August, earnings increased 1.7%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 1.33 points to 784.84
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour of trade, as industrials popped 0.7%, telecoms improved 0.6%, and energy was 0.4% more energetic.
The five laggards were weighed most heavily by materials, down 0.7%, real-estate, dipping 0.4%, and gold, dulling in price 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday as the latest set of earnings reports gave investors a positive surprise.
The Dow Jones industrial average recovered 90.99 points Thursday to 23,420.45, after registering Wednesday its biggest one-day fall since Sept. 5. DowDuPont rose nearly 2% to lead advancers.
The S&P 500 recouped 4.07 points to 2,561.22, with Ford Motor among the best-performing stocks.
The NASDAQ slid 6.81 points to 6,557.08
Twitter's stock rose 11.4% in early trade after the social media company posted earnings per share and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations.
Automaker Ford also reported better-than-expected quarterly results; its stock rose nearly 2%. The company also raised its full-year guidance.
Time Warner shares rose 0.5% after the company posted earnings that easily beat expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged early Thursday, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 2.44%.
Oil prices docked 21 cents a barrel to $51.97 U.S.
Gold prices shed $3.70 an ounce to $1,275.30 U.S.
