The Toronto stock market was only marginally higher Thursday as oil prices got a boost from data showing that U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected for a second week and positive U.S. employment news.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day only 2.90 points better than breakeven to 13,422.29
The Canadian dollar leaped 0.72 cents to 104.31 cents U.S.
The energy sector saw Suncor Energy up 61 cents to $39.26 and Canadian Natural Resources rose 63 cents to $41.76.
The base metals sector rose as metal prices also advanced with the September copper contract in New York up five cents to $4.39 U.S. a pound. Quadra FNX Mining climbed 40 cents to $14.86 and Inmet Mining was up $1.55 to $70.16.
Financials also lent support as CIBC gained 20 cents to $75.96 and Royal Bank was down 21 cents to $54.60.
The gold sector was flat as Barrick Gold Corp. faded 37 cents to $44.27.
Cogeco Inc. deepened its losses to $56.7 million in the third quarter as it wrote off its cable division’s net investment in its Portuguese operations. The company said the three-month results were equivalent to a loss of $3.39 per share, compared with a loss of $10.7 million, or 64 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Its shares were ahead nine cents at $42.99.
Speaking of things economic, Royal LePage says Canada’s residential real estate market saw sizable year-over-year price increases in the second quarter.
And, it says the price increases were evident across all housing types surveyed, with the national average price of a detached bungalow has rising the most -- 7.5% year over year to $356,625.
Meanwhile, the price of a standard two-storey home rose 6.1% to $390,163 and the price of a standard condominium 3.5% to $238,064.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 31.75 points to 1,985.91, while the Nasdaq Canada index recovered 12.25 points to 568.92
In Toronto, the 14 subgroups were evenly divided between winners and losers. Global base metals led the former, up 1.2%, while energy gained 0.7%, and information technology advanced 0.6%.
The seven laggards were weighed by telecoms, off 0.8%, while consumer staples and health-care stocks each doffed 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were solidly higher Thursday as investors cheered the release of two stronger-than-anticipated reports on the jobs market.
The Dow Jones Industrials prospered 93.47 points to close at 12,719.50
The S&P 500 advanced 14 points to 1,353.22, and the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 38.64 points to 2,872.66.
Retail stocks were the top performers Thursday after several retailers reported better-than-expected June sales. Urban Outfitters was the best performer on the S&P 500, up more than 6%, followed closely by Target, Kohl's and Limited Brands
Financial shares were also posting strong gains, with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and American Express among the top Dow performers
Shareholders of NYSE Euronext approved the sale of the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange to Deutsche Boerse. Shares rose 3%.
On the economic front, the U.S. government's weekly report on initial unemployment claims came out before the start of trading and was a bit lower than expected.
The government reported that 418,000 people filed for unemployment in the week ended July 2. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a total of 425,000 jobless claims last week.
Separately, a report from payroll services firm ADP showed that employers in the private sector added 157,000 workers in June, far exceeding expectations.
The ADP was expected to show that employers in the private sector added 60,000 workers in June.
The ADP revised its tally for May down to an additional 36,000 payrolls, after initially reporting a boost to payrolls by 38,000.
The most watched indicator of jobs growth comes Friday in the form of the government's monthly report for June. After weak jobs growth in May, economists and traders aren't expecting much better results from June's numbers.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury faltered Thursday, boosting the yield to 3.15% from 3.09% on Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for August delivery gained $1.93 to $98.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery dropped $2.80 to $1,526.20 U.S. an ounce.
