The Toronto stock market pushed slightly ahead at midday Thursday as traders spirits were lifted by mostly positive signs about the state of the U.S. economy amid a slowdown in trading ahead of the holiday season.
The S&P/TSX Composite churned on 58.96 points to greet noon at 11,812.49
The Canadian dollar added 0.43 cents to 97.89 cents U.S.
In Canadian corporate news, Miranda Technologies Inc. says it doesn’t expect dissident shareholders to have enough support to force a special meeting to replace four of the company’s sitting directors. Shares fell 18 cents to $9.15.
Workers at Noranda Income Fund’s Salaberry-de-Valleyfield zinc processing plant have voted in favour of a new labour agreement. Shares added four cents to $5.54.
Thomson Reuters said it is suspending its search for a buyer for its healthcare data business due to challenging economic conditions. Shares were up a penny at $26.39.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said average non-farm weekly earnings inched up 1.4% to $885.36 in October from the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings rose 2.7%.
Also, the Conference Board of Canada said early Thursday that consumer confidence has hit its lowest level in more than two and a half years. The think tank says its Index of Consumer Confidence posted a 6.5-point drop in December, bringing 2011 to a disappointing close.
The TSX Venture Exchange garnered 2.18 to 1,441.93, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved upward 2.97 points to 364.50
In all, 10 of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by lunch time. Metals and mining led the winners, up 1.6%, while financials advanced 1.1% and energy was 0.9% to the good.
The four laggards were weighed by gold, off 2%, materials, down 0.4%, and health-care, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks headed higher Thursday, as a better-than-expected reading on unemployment boosted investor optimism.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 43.14 points to break for lunch at 12,150.90
The S&P 500 had gained 6.18 points by midday to 1,249.90, while the Nasdaq Composite remained positive 17.46 points to 2,595.43
While the strong report came in the face of a weaker-than-expected reading on economic growth, investors have been grasping on to any positive news coming out, according to some experts.
Shares of Yahoo rose nearly 2% early Thursday, following reports that the company will consider a proposal to sell its stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group. The transaction would be worth approximately $17 billion U.S. Yahoo had climbed as much as 6% after the market closed on Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, the Justice Department announced a $335-million U.S. settlement with Bank of America over discriminatory lending practices at Countrywide Financial. Attorney General Eric Holder said a federal probe found systemic discrimination against minority borrowers who qualified for prime loans. Shares of Bank of America rose 1.6% on Thursday.
Economically speaking, the U.S. government reported that the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits dropped to their lowest level since April 2008. There were 364,000 initial jobless claims last week, 4,000 fewer than a week earlier. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected initial claims to have risen to 380,000.
Elsewhere, a third estimate of gross domestic product showed that the economy grew at a slightly slower clip in the third quarter than many believed. Gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of just 1.8%, slower than the 2% measured in the previous reading.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to a level of 69.9 for December, up from a preliminary reading of 67.7. Economists polled by Briefing.com were expecting a reading of 68.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained back lost ground, pushing the yield down to 1.96% from 1.97% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for January delivery gained 68 cents to $99.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery dropped $11.90 to $1,601.70 U.S. an ounce.
