Equities in Toronto got buffeted around somewhat Thursday, but still managed overall gains, as industrial strength overcame malaise by materials and health-care concerns.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 36.86 points to close Thursday at 15,891.63
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.31 cents to 77.8 cents U.S.
Aecon Group surged $3.11, or 18.8% to $19.63 on news that it agreed to be bought by the Chinese construction firm in a deal with an enterprise value of $1.51 billion.
Elsewhere among industrials, Air Canada got lift of $1.23, or 4.7%, to $27.23.
Suncor Energy rose nearly a dollar, or 2.4%, to $43.15, while Encana Corporation advanced 20 cents, or 1.5%, to $13.76.
Tech stocks also cooked, with Constellation Software gaining $3.06 to $757.87, while BlackBerry eked out a gain of a penny to $13.80.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost ground weighed down by Barrick Gold Corp and Teck Resources Ltd.
Barrick sank $1.59, or 7.9%, to $18.61 after disappointing quarterly results and uncertainty surrounding its gold mine in Tanzania, which is embroiled in a multi-billion-dollar tax dispute.
Teck slumped $2.48, or 8.5%, to $26.80 after reporting weaker-than-expected third-quarter results and forecasting softer prices for its coal in the fourth quarter.
Health-care issues were trashed, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals lost 49 cents, or 3.2%, to $14.96, while Canopy Growth subtracted eight cents to $12.95.
Unexpectedly better quarterly results for Agnico Eagle Mines and Goldcorp tempered some of the mining losses. Agnico gained $2.13, or 3.8%, to $58.33 and Goldcorp was up 12 cents to $16.61.
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 turned negative 0.54 points to end Thursday at 784.68
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split on the day between gainers and losers, with industrials powering ahead 1.5%, energy and information technology each gaining 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards, were tattooed, as materials sank 1.9%, health-care and gold each tumbling 1.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday as the latest set of earnings reports gave investors a positive surprise.
The Dow Jones industrial average came off its highs of the day, but still gained 71.4 points Thursday to 23,400.86, after registering Wednesday its biggest one-day fall since Sept. 5.
Nike added to its Wednesday gains after the company raised growth targets at its investor day, while DowDuPont led the index after filing financial statements and its expected results for the third quarter.
The S&P 500 recouped 3.25 points to 2,560.40. Union Pacific rose 4.7% after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and was S&P 500's best-performing stock.
The NASDAQ slipped 7.12 points to 6,566.77. Tech giants Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon are all scheduled to report quarterly results Thursday after the close.
Twitter's stock rose 17.3% in early trade after the social media company posted earnings per share and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations. The stock was also on track for its best day since September 2016.
Ford Motor Company also reported better-than-expected quarterly results; its stock rose nearly 1%. The company also raised its full-year guidance.
Time Warner shares rose 0.4% after the company posted earnings that easily beat expectations.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were lower Thursday, raising yields to 2.46% from Wednesday’s 2.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 53 cents a barrel to $52.71 U.S.
Gold prices shed $10.80 an ounce to $1,268.20 U.S.
