Equity markets in Toronto gained solidly to wind up the first trading day of the year on Thursday
The TSX Composite Index advanced 36.52 points to finish Thursday at 17,099.95
The Canadian dollar demurred 0.05 cents to 76.99 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks weighed things down, however, as Aurora Cannabis slipped 16 cents, or 5.7%, to $2.63, and Aphria fell 32 cents, or 4.7%, to $6.46.
Among real-estate concerns, Crombie REIT sank 52 cents, or 3.3%, to $15.42, while Granite REIT weakened $1.78, or 2.7%, to $64.23.
Energy moved lower, as Gran Tierra Energy fell off seven cents, or 4.1%, to $1.62, Secure Energy Services docked 18 cents, or 3.6%, to $4.88.
Tech proved the king among gaining groups, as EXFO moved ahead 30 cents, or 5%, to $6.30, while Enghouse Systems jumped $2.39, or 5%, to $50.57.
Industrials improved, primarily, Ballard Power, up $1.04, or 11.2%, to $10.32, while Air Canada took on $1.40, or 2.9%, to $49.91.
In the consumer discretionary sector, The Stars Group gathered 53 cents, or 1.6%, to $34.42, while Martinrea International garnered 18 cents, or 1.3%, to $14.49.
On the economic front, the IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index registered at 50.4 in December, down from 51.4 in the previous month.
This signaled the weakest overall manufacturing performance since August. The latest reading was only fractionally above the crucial 50 no-change mark.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 10.33 points to 587.87
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups slumped, as health-care dropped 2.3%, while real-estate plummeted 1.6%, and energy was 0.9% less energetic.
The four laggards were led by information technology up 1.3%, industrials, ahead 0.9%, and consumer discretionary, better by 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose to all-time highs on Thursday, led by tech shares, as the strong rally in 2019 continued in the first trading day of the New Year.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 330.36 points, or 1.2%, to conclude the first session of the year at 28,868.80
The S&P 500 gained 27.07 points to 3,257.85, marking its best performance since Dec. 12.
The NASDAQ hurtled higher 119.58 points, or 1.3%, to 9,092.19, enjoying its best day since Oct. 11.
Chip stocks led the way on Wall Street. Advanced Micro Devices was up by 7.1% while Taiwan Semiconductor and Micron Technology both gained more than 3%. KLA took on 2.5%, and Intel rose 1.7%.
Semiconductor stocks surged 62% in 2019, their best one-year performance since 2003.
Tesla shares rose 2.9% after an analyst at Canaccord Genuity hiked his price target on the stock to $515 per share from $375 per share, noting 2020 will be an “electric year” for the company (his words, not ours!)
Thursday’s gains come after Wall Street booked a strong 2019 performance on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 rising 28.9% in the year. That was the broad index’s biggest annual gain since 2013, when it surged 29.6%. The Dow, meanwhile, climbed 22.3% while the NASDAQ Composite skyrocketed more than 35%.
Sentiment was lifted Thursday after the People’s Bank of China lowered the amount of reserve cash the country’s banks must hold, which will put more money into the economy. This move will inject about 800 billion yuan in liquidity to the Chinese economy.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims came in at 222,000, slightly below estimates of 225,000.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury rose, dropping yields to 1.88% from Tuesday’s 1.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 10 cents to $61.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $7.80 at $1,530.90 U.S. an ounce.
