Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday as oil prices recovered on hopes of production cuts, while some provinces prepared to ease shutdowns imposed to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tailed off from its highs of the morning, but still gained 78.86 points to 14,367.02.
The Canadian dollar vaulted 0.59 cents to 71.19 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Frontera Energy Corp, which jumped 9.7%, and Vermilion Energy, which rose 9.4%, aided also by a price target raise by National Bank of Canada.
Gildan Activewear fell 1.9%, the most on the TSX, after a price target cut by Canaccord Genuity. The second biggest decliner was SmartCentres REIT, down 1.7%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange acquired 7.6 points to 460.19
The 12 TSX subgroups were divided evenly, with energy popping 4.2%, while gold gained 3.4%, and materials were up 3.1%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by utilities, off 1.1%, real-estate down 0.9%, and health-care, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slashed earlier gains on Thursday after a report said Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir flopped in a Chinese trial aimed at treating coronavirus patients.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average kept gains of 155.66 points to 23,631.48.
The S&P 500 picked up 3.5 points to 2,802.57.
The NASDAQ Composite surged 19.78 points to 8,515.16.
On the earnings front, CSX shares gained more than 3% after the railroad company posted quarterly profits that beat expectations. Union Pacific also got a boost from stronger-than-forecast earnings.
The Financial Times said — citing documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization — that remdesivir did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the coronavirus pathogen in their bloodstream.
Equities had initially rallied as crude prices continued their rebound from historic lows.
West Texas Intermediate futures for June delivery jumped 30% to $18 per barrel as traders increased bets on U.S. production cuts. WTI also rallied on Wednesday.
The major averages have staged a massive rebound since hitting a coronavirus-crisis low on March 23. In that time, the Dow S&P 500 and NASDAQ are all up over 20%. Still, the major averages remain well below the record highs set in February.
U.S. traders on Thursday also pored through the Labor Department’s latest report on jobless claims.
Another 4.4 million workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. That brought the five-week jobless claims total to more than 26 million, erasing all the job gains since the Great Recession. However, Thursday’s print represented a decline from the jobless claims number reported in the previous week.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 0.60% from Wednesday’s 0.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on $3.95 to $17.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $16.10 to $1,754.20 U.S. an ounce.
