Equities in Canada’s largest centre were slowly rebuilding by noon EDT on Thursdy, rebounding from a selloff triggered by fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections, while tumbling oil prices kept the energy sector decidedly in the red.
The TSX improved 81.76 points midday at 15,668.33.
The Canadian dollar sagged 0.25 cents to 74.87 cents U.S.
Former American retail whiz J.C. Penney Co said on Wednesday it has entered an asset purchase agreement with Brookfield Asset
Management, Simon Property Group and a majority of the company's first lien lenders.
Brookfield shares gave up earlier gains and were in the red 30 cents by lunch hour to $40.01.
RBC cut the price target on Cogeco Communications to $114.00 from $119.00. Cogeco shares came off their highs of the morning, but remained in the green 17 cents to $94.02.
Citigroup cut the rating on Suncor Energy to neutral from buy. Suncor retreated 18 cents, or 1.2%, to $14.82.
CIBC cut the price target on Acadian Timber to $18.00 from $19.00. Acadian shares docked 12 cents to $15.00.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer rose by 303,200 (or 2.0%) in August.
This followed large increases in July (759,500, or 5.3%) and June (665,500, or 4.9%), and brought the total payroll employment change since February to a decrease of 1.6 million (or 9.5%).
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 7.04 points, or 1%, to greet noon Thursday at 684.97.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher as morning became afternoon, with gold shining 2.2% brighter, materials growing 1.8%, and real-estate better by 1.5%.
The two laggards were energy, sliding 2%, and consumer staples, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday as shares of major tech companies advanced ahead of their quarterly earnings reports. Sentiment also got a lift from better-than-expected economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 47.89 points to 26,567.84
The S&P 500 increased 25.43 points to 3,296.46.
The NASDAQ popped 143.55 points, or 1.3%, to 11,148.42.
Thursday’s moves came a day after the market’s biggest selloff in months. Both the Dow and S&P 500 had their worst day on Wednesday since June.
Shares of Amazon shot higher 0.9% and Apple soared 2.7%. Alphabet traded 2.6% higher and Facebook popped 4.3%. All four companies are slated to report earnings after the bell Thursday.
More than 270 S&P 500 companies have reported calendar third-quarter earnings thus far. Of those companies, 85% have reported better-than-expected earnings. Despite the high beat rate, several stocks have fallen after releasing their quarterly results.
U.S. gross domestic product for the third quarter expanded at a 33.1% annualized pace, its fastest growth ever. The reading came after a 31.4% plunge in the second quarter and was better than the 32% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Meanwhile, the number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers declined for a second straight week and hit its lowest level since March. Initial weekly U.S. jobless claims came in at 751,000 for the week ending Oct. 24, better than a Dow Jones estimate of 778,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury fell, raising yields to 0.82% from Wednesday’s 0.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.41 at $35.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $8.60 to $1,878.30
