Equities in Canada’s largest centre ended a three-day slide Thursday, mostly on the back of surging energy plays.
The S&P/TSX Composite progressed 26.19 points to end Thursday at 14,833.75, well off its highs of the day
The Canadian dollar subtracted 0.05 cents to 74.69 cents U.S.
Shares in Suncor Energy climbed on burgeoning third-quarter results. The stock took on $2.23, or 5.7%, to $41.61. Elsewhere in the sector, MEG Energy jumped 15 cents in price, or 2.6%, to $5.88.
In the industrial sector, which more than held its own Thursday, Bombardier progressed three cents, or 1.6%, to $1.88, while Canadian Pacific Railway hiked $1.81 to $193.88.
In the financial field, Scotiabank gained 47 cents, or $72.23, while Bank of Montreal took on 27 cents, or $86.94.
Health-care stocks took their lumps, most notably Concordia International, down 31 cents, or nearly 6%, to $4.89. Even so, Valeant Pharmaceuticals evened things out a mite, gaining 32 cents, or 1.1%, to $29.54.
Gold stocks had a rough day of it, with Goldcorp surrendering 75 cents, or 3.7%, to $19.75, and IAMGOLD backing off 16 cents, or 3%, to $5.26.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $960 in August, up 0.8% from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, weekly earnings increased 1.6%, partly as a result of relatively low earnings in August 2015.
Belgium agreed a deal with its regional parliaments on Thursday to approve a landmark European Union free trade agreement with Canada, breaking a deadlock that has blocked the pact for weeks.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange drooped 0.2 points to 775.19
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as health-care dipped 1.4%, while gold and real-estate each docked 1.2%.
The five gainers were led by energy, up 1.9%, industrials, ahead 0.4%, and financials, 0.3% to the good.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks stateside closed lower on Thursday as investors parsed through a fresh batch of corporate earnings results and economic data, while sovereign bonds around the world fell.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved into the red 29.65 points by the close to 18,169.68, with Verizon leading advancers and Caterpillar the biggest laggard.
The S&P 500 fell 6.39 at 2,133.04, with real estate leading six sectors lower and telecommunications leading advancers.
The NASDAQ composite index dropped 34.29 points to 5,215.97
On the earnings front, Colgate-Palmolive, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Ford and UPS are just a few of the companies that posted quarterly results before the bell. Alphabet, Amazon.com, LinkedIn and Baidu are among companies set to report after the bell.
Corporate earnings have done well relative to expectations. According to data from The Earnings Scout, 50% of S&P 500 components had posted results as of Thursday morning, with 73% beating earnings estimates and 61% topping sales expectations.
But despite the deluge of corporate results and economic data, U.S. stocks have largely stayed rangebound, with the S&P having fallen just 1.3% over the past three months, as of Wednesday's close.
In economic news, initial jobless claims fell 3,000 to 258,000, while durable goods for September unexpectedly fell. Pending home sales, meanwhile, rose 1.5% in September.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury slumped, hoisting yields to 1.85% from Wednesday’s 1.8%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were better by 48 cents to $49.66 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices poked up $3.70 to $1,270.30 U.S. an ounce.
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