Stocks in Canada's largest market shook off any negative vibes and headed north in Thursday's first hour, largely on the strength of energy issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index 49.79 points to begin Thursday at 15,221.04
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.03 cents at 75.35 U.S.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported an 8% increase in fourth-quarter earnings, helped by growth at its retail banking and wealth management divisions.
CIBC shares booted it lower $2.82, or 2.4%, to $113.37.
Toronto-Dominion Bank reported a 20% rise in fourth-quarter earnings, marginally ahead of analysts' expectations, helped by strong growth at its U.S. retail business.
TD shares edged up three cents to $73.63.
Desjardins raised the price target on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $77.00 from $74.00. Couche-Tard, the darling of investors Wednesday, picked up 12 cents to $60.95.
Morgan Stanley raised price target on BCE to $60.00 from $59.00. BCE shares ailed 37 cents to $56.49.
Barclays raised the price target on Royal Bank of Canada to $100.00 from $99.00. RBC shares gathered 35 cents to $98.45.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported Thursday morning that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,004 in September, little changed from the previous month.
Compared with 12 months earlier, says the agency, earnings increased 1.8%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 0.9 points to 590.79
Seven to 12 subgroups were positive in the first hour, with energy up 1.6%, materials rallying 1.1%, and gold, gaining 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by health-care, sicker by 1.3%, while communications and real-estate each fell back 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded lower on Thursday as investors took a breather following a massive rally in the previous session on comments from the top-ranking Federal Reserve official.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average deducted 49.79 points to 25,316.64.
The S&P 500 slid 8.03 points to 2,735.76.
The NASDAQ backtracked 27.21 points to 7,264.38.
Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods fell about 7.4% after J.P. Morgan downgraded them to neutral from overweight.
Boeing's stock bucked the negative trend, rising 0.7% after Cowen named it its number-one aerospace stock for 2019.
On Wednesday, the Dow surged more than 600 points to post its second-best day of the year. The index's gains came after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank's benchmark interest rate to be close to a neutral level, which marks a step away from comments made in recent months.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Argentina on Saturday. The two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing trade dispute between their countries.
The U.S. has implemented tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods this year. China has responded with tariffs of its own on U.S. goods. The ongoing spat has sent ripples across financial markets as investors assess its impact on corporate earnings and the economy.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose sharply, thus lowering yields to 3.02% from Wednesday’s 3.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked 95 cents to $51.24 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $2.20 at $1,232.00 U.S. an ounce.
