TSX Could See 5% Gain for March
Equities in
Toronto
stayed positive on Thursday as energy issues firmed after crude oil prices turned higher but materials and health-care stocks dragged.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained in the green 25.25 points to greet noon at 13,529.23.
The index remains on track for a second straight month of gains, something it hasn't accomplished since February 2015. What's more, the could well notch a 5% gain in March, its biggest monthly move higher since October 2011.
The Canadian dollar fell into negative country 0.03 cents to 77.11 cents
U.S.
Suncor Energy rose 0.4% to $35.79, and Canadian Natural Resources advanced 0.8% to $34.94.
Among financials, Toronto-Dominion Bank said that it expected losses from bad loans in the oil & gas sector to be manageable given its relatively small exposure to the energy sector. TD's shares rose 0.1% to $56.30.
The shares of Cara Operations rose more than 11% to $29.65. The owner of the Swiss Chalet casual dining chain and Harvey's burger outlets said it would buy St-Hubert BBQ, one of
Quebec's
largest casual dining chains, for
$537 million.
The biggest drag on the index was Silver Wheaton Corp. The mining company's shares fell 5.5% to $21.63.
The shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc fell 4.2% to $33.62. The drug maker said it was asking its lenders for another month to file its annual report, seeking to reduce the risk of a default on its $30-billion debt if it misses the current April 29 deadline.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that January's Gross Domestic Product rose 0.6%, a fourth consecutive monthly increase. The agency attributes the rise to manufacturing, retail trade, and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
Moreover, StatsCan said, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $953 in January, down 0.7% from December.
Compared with 12 months earlier, average weekly earnings were up 0.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.94 points to 578.83
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were still positive, as energy stocks climbed 0.9%, utilities were better by 0.7%, and health-care grew 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by materials, down 0.6%, while metals and mining and consumer staples each retreated 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks south of the border traded mostly higher Thursday, the final trading day of the quarter, as investors awaited the monthly employment report due Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrials achieved 30.24 points more to 17,746.90, with IBM contributing the most to gains and Boeing the most to declines.
The S&P 500 eked up 2.79 points to 2,066.74, with utilities leading seven sectors higher and materials the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index gained 17.41 points to 4,886.40, as Microsoft gained and Apple was slightly lower.
The Dow and S&P 500 are on pace for quarterly gains of more than 1% each, while the NASDAQ is on pace for a quarterly decline of more than 2%.
Morgan Stanley on Thursday raised its price target on IBM to $168.00 from $140.00
In economic news, initial jobless claims came in at 276,000. Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index numbers rose to 53.6 in March from 47.6 in February.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 1.8% from Wednesday's 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 42 cents a barrel to $38.74
U.S.
Gold prices moved higher $10.36 to $1,235.38
U.S.
an ounce.
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