Markets in Toronto picked up positive vibes on Thursday, pressured by disappointing results from materials companies and sliding gold prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered 48.61 points to greet noon Thursday at 16,469.37
The Canadian dollar deferred 0.13 cents at 76.53 cents U.S.
The top drag to the sector was Barrick Gold, which fell 58 cents, or 3.8%, to $14.85, after the company missed estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday.
A decline of 54 cents, or 3.1% in shares of Goldcorp to $16.89, and a fall of 41 cents, or 17.2% in New Gold to $1.97, following disappointing quarterly results, also weighed on the materials group.
The energy sector edged up boosted by a gain of $1.13, or 2.1%, in shares of Suncor Energy to $54.24, following a quarterly profit beat on Wednesday.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were NexGen Energy which jumped 27 cents, or 11.3%, to $2.65, after the company posted a higher profit and Cameco Corp, which rose 45 cents, or 3.2%, to $14.71, after a brokerage upgraded its rating following quarterly results.
Shares of New Gold proved the top laggard on TSX, followed by shares of Maple Leaf Foods - down $1.09, or 3.4%, to $31.40, after both companies reported disappointing quarterly results.
On matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings for workers in this country were $998 in May, up 0.4% from April following five months of virtually no change.
The agency adds that, in the 12 months to May, earnings increased by 2.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved lower 0.87 points to 706.45
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups moved into positive country, as energy and industrials each surged 0.7%, and telecoms were better by 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, dulling in price 1%, while health-care weakened 0.6% and materials were 0.2% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell on Thursday after a sharp decline in Facebook sent tech shares lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials galloped 149.93 points to pause for lunch at 25,564.03
The S&P 500 dropped 3.25 points to 2,842.82,
The NASDAQ dumped 64.2 points to 7,868.04, on track for its worst day in weeks.
Facebook shares dropped nearly 20% a day after its quarterly revenue missed expectations. Global daily active users, a key metric for the social media giant, also disappointed investors. Additionally, Facebook said it expects its revenue growth rates to slow down from last year.
Facebook's earnings per share, however, topped Wall Street estimates.
The decline in Facebook's stock dragged down the entire tech sector, with shares of Amazon and PayPal trading lower. Amazon is scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the close Thursday.
Facebook's negative results offset strong earnings from NBCUniversal-parent Comcast, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices. Comcast shares rose 3.8%— leading Disney shares higher by 1.6%— while Qualcomm advanced 4.2% and Advanced Micro Devices jumped 14.5%, on better-than-expected earnings.
The decline in Facebook also overshadowed positive news on trade. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and the European Union had initiated a "new phase" within their relationship, explaining how both regions would start collaborating in order to lower tariffs and avoid a potential trade war.
Trump's announcement comes after trade relations between the U.S. and E.U. had been strained in recent months. Shares of Caterpillar rose 0.5% Shares of Caterpillar rose 2.1%. Caterpillar is a company sensitive to trade tensions given its large exposure to overseas revenue.
Caterpillar's gains helped lift the Dow by triple digits. 3M, another company with large overseas revenue exposure, also rose 1.6%
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury surrendered previous gains, raising yields to 2.97% from Wednesday’s 2.96%.
Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 50 cents to $69.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices let go of $5.90 to $1,225.90 U.S. an ounce.
