Canada's main index climbed higher on Thursday, as gold miners gained along higher with prices for the precious metal, and Enbridge Inc was boosted by strong results.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index grew 85.62 points to move into noon hour at 15,996.43
The Canadian dollar added 0.50 cents to 78.23 cents U.S.
Shares of Enbridge, up 2.5% were the biggest boost to the main index. Canada's largest pipeline operator posted first-quarter profit that topped analysts' forecasts.
Canadian Tire, down 11%, said it would buy Norway-based sportswear and work-wear brand Helly Hansen for $985 million, including debt.
On the earnings front, Telus Corp's quarterly profit came in slightly below analysts' estimates as it spent heavily to add wireless subscribers amid stiff competition.
Magna International raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, sending its shares up 2%
TMX Group Ltd posted first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat Wall Street estimates, sending shares of Canada's biggest stock exchange operator up 5.4%.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Great Canadian Gaming Corp, which rose 26.1% after the company reported on Wednesday a 62% rise in first-quarter revenue.
Open Text Corp on Wednesday reported third-quarter results that missed analysts' expectations, sending its shares down 9.3%, making it the largest decliner.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that in March, new house prices for Canada were unchanged, reflecting mixed results across the country. Rising prices in 13 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) were offset by flat or declining prices in the other 14 surveyed CMAs
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.22 points to 775.27
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, led by consumer discretionary stocks, up 1.4%, materials, up 1.1%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.8%
The two laggards were information technology, down 1%, and telecoms, off 0.5%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded higher on Thursday following the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hiked 230.2 points to 24,772.74, turning positive for the year — with Exxon Mobil as the best-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 gained 25.43 points to 2,723.22, with health care and telecom both rising more than 1.5%.
The NASDAQ picked up 64.45 points to 7,404.36, as Apple reached an all-time high.
Technology shares also aided the broader indexes. The sector rose about 1.1%, as shares of Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet all traded higher.
In corporate news, Booking Holdings dropped more than 4% after giving weaker-than-expected quarterly guidance. The company reported better-than-forecast earnings and revenue for the previous quarter, however.
The U.S. Labor Department said before the open its consumer price index rose 0.2% in April, with economists expecting a 0.3% bump. The lighter-than-forecast number eased concerns about the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy at a faster rate than the market is expecting.
As of Thursday, market expectations for rate hikes in June are 100%, and 76% for September, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. This is in line with the Fed's interest-rate projections released in March, when the central bank last raised rates.
The U.S. Labor Department also reported Thursday that weekly jobless claims remained near a 48-year low at 211,000.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.98% from Wednesday’s 3.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ditched 21 cents a barrel to $70.93 U.S.
Gold prices gained $6.80 to $1,319.80 U.S. an ounce.
