nada's biggest centre rose on Wednesday to a nearly one-week high as energy stocks added to sharp gains from one day before on a surprise output cut agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 62.79 points to greet noon at 14,794.22, after a hefty gain Wednesday of more than 170 points.
The Canadian dollar removed 0.03 cents at 76.42 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index were some of the country's largest energy companies. Suncor Energy rose 1.9% to $36.25 and Canadian Natural Resources advanced 1.6% to $41.81.
OPEC agreed on modest output cuts on Wednesday, in the first such move since 2008, with Saudi Arabia softening its stance on arch-rival Iran amid mounting pressure from low oil prices.
Financial stocks firmed, including a 0.3% gain for Toronto-Dominion Bank to $58.52.
Gold-focused royalty and stream company Franco Nevada Corp fell 1.7% to $91.74, while spot gold dipped 0.2%
SNC-Lavalin Group cut its full-year adjusted profit forecast for its engineering and construction business due to commercial issues in two oil & gas projects in the Middle East. Its shares tumbled 5.4% to $51.95.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported Thursday that average weekly earnings stayed pretty still in July at $955.00, down 0.2% from June, and up 0.1% from July 2015.
ON BAY STREET
The TSX Venture Exchange deducted 0.77 points at 800.70
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, the former group led by energy, up 2.8%, utilities, ahead 0.4%, telecoms, gaining 0.3%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.7%, while materials skidded 0.7%, and health-care dipped 0.6%.
ON WALL STREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Thursday the initial excitement from an OPEC production cut deal fade
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 29.44 points to 18,309.80, with Merck leading decliners and Caterpillar the top riser.
The S&P 500 shed 2.81 points to 2,168.50, with utilities leading seven sectors higher and consumer discretionary the biggest advancer.
The NASDAQ Composite moved lower 17.15 points to 5,301.40, as Apple sank more than 1%.
In corporate news, PepsiCo shares rose about 1% after the soda and snacks giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results.
ConAgra and Accenture shares also rose following their quarterly results releases. After the bell, Costco is scheduled to post results.
In economic news, the third — and final — read on second-quarter gross domestic product showed the U.S. economy grew slightly faster than previously estimated. The Commerce Department said GDP rose at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose 3,000 to 254,000, slightly less than expected. The four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out volatility, fell 2,250 to 256,000.
Washington also reported that after-tax corporate profits fell at a 0.6% rate in the second quarter, a smaller drop than initially estimated. With profits declining, an alternative measure of growth, gross domestic income, or GDI, dropped at a 0.2% rate in the second quarter. GDI measures the economy's performance from the income side.
The National Association or Realtors reported pending home sales fell 2.4% in August, marking the third straight monthly decline.
OPEC, the 14-country oil cartel, reached a deal to cut production starting in November.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lowered, raising yields to 1.58% from Wednesday's 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 85 cents to $47.90 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $2.60 at $1,321.10 U.S. an ounce.
