Canada's main stock index recovered from a day of negative readings and forged into the green by the end of the session on Thursday, as mining shares regained strength and investors waited for further progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 31.75 points to close Thursday at 16,311.61
The Canadian dollar lost 0.07 cents at 74.89 cents U.S.
Outcrop Gold leaped six cents, or 16.7%, to 42 cents, while Kinross Gold, picked up 11 cents, or 2.4%, to $4.65
Among materials, Agnico Eagle Mines climbed $1.22, or 2.1%, to $58.29, while First Quantum Minerals got hold of eight cents to $15.71.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Magna International obtained a dollar, or 1.5%, to $69.65, while Gildan Activewear jumped 25 cents to $49.09.
Among tech stocks, which took a beating, BlackBerry was left bruised 30 cents, or 2.3%, to $12.46, while Shopify tumbled $14.10, or 5.2%, to $259.60.
Among real-estate entries, Colliers International Group slouched $1.12, or 1.2%, to $90.46, while units of H&R REIT fell 11 cents to $23.40.
Industrials, such as Bombardier, dropped five cents, or 1.8%, to $2.72.
On the economic beat, Western University’s IVEY School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers Index for March, The PMI measured 54.3 in March, up substantially from the 50.6 registered in February, but significantly lower than the 59.8 issued in March 2018.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 1.19 points to 626.19
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups moved up by the closing bell, with gold shinier 2.3%, materials up 1.7%, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.5%
The five laggards were weighed most by information technology stocks, down 2.2%, real-estate, fading 0.5%, and industrials, weaker by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose on Thursday as investors awaited more news on a potential trade deal between China and the U.S.
The 30-stock index leaped 166.5 points to conclude trading at 26,384.63, led by a 2.9% gain in Boeing.
The S&P 500 gained 2.51 at 2,875.87, notching its first six-day winning streak since February 2018, as the materials and energy sectors outperformed.
The NASDAQ Composite backtracked 10.55 points to 7,885, as Tesla shares were under pressure.
Boeing rose despite Ethiopia saying the company must review the "controllability" of its 737 Max 8 jet. This comes after an Ethiopian Airlines flight operated with a 737 Max 8 crashed last month.
Facebook shares rose 1.4% after Guggenheim upgraded the social media company to buy from neutral, citing "stable" user trends and investors feeling more comfortable with the company's privacy issues.
Tesla shares dropped about 8.2% after the company said it delivered fewer-than-expected Model 3 cars in the first quarter.
The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump expects to announce the date of a trade summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later in the day, lifting market sentiment. Trump is due to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Thursday.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 2.51% from Wednesday’s 2.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 34 cents to $62.12 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $2.50 to $1,297.80 U.S. an ounce.
