Equities in Canada’s largest centre managed to hold onto what they’d earned on Thursday as gains in shares of gold miners and a string of positive earnings helped offset a drop in Husky Energy following disappointing results.
The TSX Composite Index retained 33.39 points worth of gains to end Thursday at 16,369.32
The Canadian dollar squeezed ahead 0.01 cents at 76.49 cents U.S.
Gold shares showed the most promise, as Wesdome Gold triumphed 49 cents, or 7.5%, to $7.00, while Torex Gold spiked $1.15, or 7.2%, to $17.15.
Tech issues also put their best foot forward, as Shopify soared $29.86, or 7.7%, to $418.07, and Constellation Software reached into the sky $12.58, or 1%, to $1,303.52.
Among materials, Agnico Eagle Mines got lift of $4.60, or 6.5%, to $75.22, while Semafo took on 12 cents, or 3%, to $4.11.
Among declining energy issues, Suncor lost 17 cents to $39.63, while Canadian Natural Resources disposed of 38 cents, or 1.1%, to $33.44.
Consumer staples got bruised, as Metro fell 39 cents to $54.91, while Loblaw Companies ditched 60 cents to $69.25.
Communications finished weaker, as Rogers slid 70 cents, or 1.2%, to $60.30, while Corus Entertainment gave up a nickel, or 1%, to $4.89.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that an August, 453,200 people received regular Employment Insurance benefits, virtually unchanged from the previous month.
The agency goes on to say that there were increases in Quebec, of 2.8% and Prince Edward Island, of 1.6%, while there was a 1.4% decrease in Ontario
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 0.20 points to 542.84
The 12 Toronto subgroups were evenly split, with gold advancing 3.1%, while information technology gathered 2.2%., and materials strengthened 1.7%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy and consumer staples, sliding 1% each, and communications, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 posted a slight gain on Thursday, led by strong quarterly results from Microsoft, as Wall Street slogged through the busiest day of the earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 28.42 points to finish Thursday at 26,805.53, as shares of 3M pulled back 4.1%.
The broader S&P 500 gained back 5.77 points to 3,010.29.
The NASDAQ Composite Index added 66 points to 8,185.80.
3M cut its full-year earnings forecast, overshadowing stronger-than-expected results for the quarter. In turn, Microsoft rose as investors cheered earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations.
Microsoft reported earnings per share of $1.38 on revenue of $33.06 billion for the previous quarter. Analysts expected a profit of $1.25 per share on revenue of $32.23 billion.
Microsoft’s strong quarterly performance was driven in part by Azure, its cloud business, which saw revenues grow by 59% on a year-over-year basis. The stock rose 1.4%.
In all, 45 S&P 500 companies were on deck to report earnings on Thursday. Some of the companies posting their results before the bell include 3M, Comcast, Dow Inc. and Twitter. Amazon, Intel and Visa are among the companies scheduled to report after the bell.
Comcast shares rose 2% after reporting while Dow Inc climbed 4.7%. Twitter, however, fell 20.8% on weaker-than-expected results.
Tesla shares spiked 17% after the electric car maker posted a surprise quarterly profit. The company also told investors its new Shanghai factor is "ready for production." PayPal, meanwhile, jumped 8% after posting its best results in at least a year.
More than 31% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly earnings thus far, with nearly 80% of them posting results that beat analyst estimates
In economic news, durable goods orders fell 1.1% in September, notching their largest drop in four months. The drop in orders comes as the world struggles with a global manufacturing slowdown.
The Institute for Supply Management said earlier this month that manufacturing activity in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury increased, lowering yields to 1.75% from Wednesday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 19 cents to $56.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $7.70 to $1,503.40 U.S. an ounce.
