Canada's main stock index struggled doggedly to reach breakeven as morning turned to afternoon Thursday, though energy stocks remained a downer as oil prices fell on concerns of a slowdown in a fuel demand recovery.
The TSX came off its lows of the morning, but trailed Wednesday’s close by 6.47 points by noon hour EDT Thursday at 16,570.91.
The Canadian dollar revived 0.05 cents to 75.74 cents U.S.
The largest gainers on the TSX were BRP which jumped 30 cents to $65.86, and Ero Copper, up 37 cents, or 2%, to $18.87.
Oil and gas producer Whitecap Resources fell nine cents, or 3.2%, the most on the TSX, to $2.72.
The second biggest decliner was Seven Generations Energy, down nine cents, or 2%, to $4.50.
On the economic front, data showed Thursday Canadian home prices rose in July, led by the Quebec City and Ottawa-Gatineau markets, though it was the smallest July advance in 15 years.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed negative 1.96 points to 737.99.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were still in the red by noon hour, with energy sliding 1.6%, health-care and financials stumbling 0.6% each.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 2%, real-estate, pointing upward 1.4%, and materials, popping 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks south of the border traded lower on Thursday as concern about the economy grew among traders following the release of disappointing unemployment data and a dour economic outlook from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed lower 10.9 points midday to 27,681.98.
The S&P 500 inched up 4.04 points at 3,379.08
The NASDAQ moved forward 69.67 points to 11,216.13.
Nvidia shares pulled back by 1.9% even after reporting blowout results. A better-than-expected 50% jump in revenue last quarter still wasn’t enough to lift the stock, which has doubled this year. Investors are growing concerned about valuations for high flying tech shares.
Intel shares gained 3.9% after the company announced an accelerated buyback plan, calling its stock cheap.
Weekly jobless claims stateside totaled 1.106 million last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported. Economists estimate that 923,000 first-time applicants filed for unemployment benefits during the week ended Aug. 15. In the week prior, the tally had dropped below one million for the first time since mid-March.
The jump in unemployment claims came as lawmakers struggled to move forward on a new coronavirus stimulus bill. Recently, an additional unemployment benefit for those impacted by the pandemic expired.
Thursday’s data release comes a day after the Federal Reserve released its July meeting minutes which said, "the ongoing public health crisis would weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term."
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury rose sharply, weighing yields to 0.64% from Wednesday’s 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices faded 47 cents at $42.46 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $12.90 to $1,957.40 U.S. an ounce.
