Equities in Toronto gathered steam soon after Thursday’s opening bell, as rumblings among energy issues counteracted wooziness in the health-care field.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 57.27 points to commence trading on Thursday at 16,226.55
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.18 cents to 76.52 cents.
Cenovus Energy said on Wednesday that it had signed three-year deals with Canada's two major railways to transport roughly 100,000 barrels per day of crude from Northern Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Cenovus shares galloped 53 cents, or 4.4%, to $12.54.
JP Morgan raised the price target on Pembina Pipeline to $57.00 from $55.00. Pembina shares charged ahead 40 cents to $44.63.
BMO raised rating on Cameco Corp. to outperform, raises price target to $16.00 from $14.00. Cameco shares leaped $2.21, or 17.3%, to $15.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $997 in July, a decrease of 0.4% from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, earnings increased 3.0%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backed off 0.72 points to 706.31
Seven of the 12 subgroups were higher, as energy stocks gushed 1.4%, communications issues added 0.6%, and information technology ticked higher 0.4%.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, sagging 1.5%, materials, down 0.3%, and utilities, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded higher on Thursday as gains in Apple led tech shares higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved upward once more by 78.82 points to begin Thursday at 26,464.10, as Apple outperformed.
The S&P 500 restocked 13.13 points to 2,919.10, as tech and communications led eight of 11 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ regained 64.85 to 8,055.21
Apple rose more than 2% after analysts at J.P. Morgan initiated the stock with an overweight rating. The analysts see strong growth for Apple's services offerings, noting the company is "transforming from a hardware company to a services company faster than investors had expected."
Amazon, meanwhile, gained 1.6% after Stifel hiked its price target on the stock to $2,525, implying a near 30% surge from Wednesday's close.
Facebook, Alphabet and Twitter also traded higher, lifting the broader tech space and the overall equity market.
Thursday's gains come as investors digest the Federal Reserve's latest decision on monetary policy. The central bank raised rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, its third rate hike of the year. The Fed also removed the word "accommodative" from its policy statement.
Meanwhile, trade tensions continue to escalate, as President Trump criticized Canada for the slow pace of discussions concerning the overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The president said he had recently vetoed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's invitation for a one-on-one meeting — a claim that prompted a spokesman of Trudeau's government to state that no such meeting had been requested.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, thus raising yields to 3.07% from Wednesday’s 3.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 31 cents to $71.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $10.30 to $1,188.80 U.S. an ounce.
