Toronto stocks finished higher in Thursday afternoon trade, following on the strength of consumer stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 48.69 points to close Thursday at 15,959.50
The Canadian dollar added 0.53 cents to 78.33 cents U.S.
Canadian Tire, up $13.50, or 5.3%, to $268.50, said it would buy Norway-based sportswear and work-wear brand Helly Hansen for $985 million, including debt. Elsewhere among consumer discretionary stocks, Magna International raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, sending its shares up $2.41, or 3.1%, to $80.57.
First Quantum Minerals gained 52 cents, or 2.6%, to $20.44.
Among consumer staples, Restaurant Brands International gathered 59 cents to $72.26.
Shares of Enbridge, were up 83 cents, or 2%, to $42.31. Canada's largest pipeline operator posted first-quarter profit that topped analysts' forecasts.
Health-care stocks gave back some of their gains from previous days, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals doffed 50 cents, or 1.9%, to $25.60, while Aurora Cannabis ditched six cents to $7.97.
Open Text Corp on Wednesday reported third-quarter results that missed analysts' expectations, sending its shares down $2.84, or 6%, to $44.42.
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. Telus shares peeled back 22 cents to $45.71.
TMX Group Ltd posted first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat Wall Street estimates, sending shares of Canada's biggest stock exchange operator up $7.00, or 9.4%, to $81.28.
Among the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Great Canadian Gaming Corp, which rose $9.96, or 26.7%, to $47.21, after the company reported on Wednesday a 62% rise in first-quarter revenue.
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 0.64 points to 774.69
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher on the day, led by consumer discretionary stocks, up 1.1%, materials, up 0.9%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.8%
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, sliding 0.8%, information technology, down 0.7%, and telecoms, off 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average rose sharply on Thursday, posting its sixth straight day of gains, following the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation data.
The Dow gained 196.99 points to 24,739.53. Exxon Mobil and UnitedHealth were the best-performing stocks in the 30- stock index, which closed positive for 2018
The S&P 500 gained 25.28 points to 2,723.07, with utilities and telecom both rising more than 1%
The NASDAQ picked up 65.07 points to 7,404.48, as Apple reached an all-time high.
Technology shares also aided the broader indexes. The sector rose about 1.3%, as shares of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet all closed higher.
In corporate news, Booking Holdings dropped more than 4.5% 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, lowering yields to 2.96% from Wednesday’s 3.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regrouped 29 cents a barrel to $71.43 U.S.
Gold prices gained $7.90 to $1,320.90 U.S. an ounce.
