Canada's main stock index opened higher on Thursday as energy stocks tracked higher oil prices, while U.S.-China talks scheduled for October raised hopes that their trade war will de-escalate before it further damages the world economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite added 78.37 points to open Thursday at 16,527.21
The Canadian dollar gained 0.12 cents to 75.74 cents U.S.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Goodfood Market to $3.75 from $4.50. Goodfood advanced four cents, or 1.4%, to $2.86.
RBC cut the rating on Kirkland Lake Gold to sector perform from outperform. Kirkland Lake Gold dulled in price $2.95, or 4.4%, to $64.60.
Piper Jaffray raised the target price on Restaurant Brands International to $90 from $80. The parent company of Tim Hortons dipped 96 cents, or nearly 1%, to $98.23.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stuttered 3.53 points to 589.40
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive in the first hour, with health-care surged 1.8%, while energy and industrials each took on 1.2%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by gold, down 4%, while materials sagged 2.2%, and real-estate faded 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks surged on Thursday after the U.S. and China agreed to meet next month in Washington to discuss trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 425.36 points, or 1.6%, to 26,780.83
The S&P 500 gained 39.36 points, or 1.3%, to 2,977.14, led by a 2.7% gain in the financials sector, and traded around 1.5% from its record high.
The NASDAQ Composite popped 102.72 points, or 1.3%, to 7,976.88
Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.6%, while On Semiconductor gained 4.4%. Bank stocks such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup each traded more than 3% higher while trade bellwethers Caterpillar gained 3.9% and Boeing rose 1.9%
Shares of Slack, maker of the popular workplace messaging chat app, dropped 14.1% after the company issued its first earnings report as a public company.
On the data front, private payrolls in the U.S. increased by 195,000, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected payrolls to grow by 140,000. The report from ADP and Moody’s Analytics is seen by investors as a preview to the U.S. government’s monthly non-farm payrolls report, which is scheduled for release Friday morning.
The payrolls data comes as the Federal Reserve is reportedly gearing up to lower interest rates by 25 basis points later this month. The move would follow another quarter-point rate cut back in July.
China’s Commerce Ministry issued a statement Thursday morning saying that Liu He, Beijing’s top negotiator on trade, had spoken with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The two sides agreed to hold another round of trade negotiations in Washington, D.C., towards the beginning of next month, and consultations will be made in mid-September in preparation for the meeting
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slumped sharply, raising yields to 1.58% from Wednesday’s 1.46%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gathered 47 cents to $56.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped off $23.80 to $1,536.60 U.S. an ounce.
