Equities throughout North America dug themselves out Thursday of the hole they’d occupied Wednesday, led in Toronto by resource and health-care issues.
Materials stocks were the top gainers on the index, rising 1.5%, helped by Methanex Corp. which rose $2.14, or 3.6%, to $61.76 after it beat analysts' estimates for the fourth quarter.
The TSX Composite gained 97.33 points to conclude Thursday to 21,119.21.
The Canadian dollar improved 0.27 cents at 74.70 cents U.S.
Gold led the parade of gainers, with Iamgold surging 25 cents, or 7.8%, to $3.45, while Oceanagold leaped 14 cents, or 5.2%, to $2.83.
In health-care Tilray took on 21 cents, or 8.6%, to $2.66, while Bausch Health Companies gathered 15 cents, or 1.4%, to $10.69.
Materials also pushed higher, with K92 Mining progressing 41 cents, or 6.4%, to $6.85, while First Majestic Silver flew 34 cents, or 5.5%, to $6.57.
Energy slowed things down, though, with MEG Energy weighing 87 cents, or 3.4%, to $24.55, while Enerplus sagged 53 cents, or 2.7%, to $18.99.
In tech stocks, Shopify dropped $5.15, or 4.8%, to $102.48, while BlackBerry got pummeled five cents, or 1.3%, to $3.72.
Among financials, Brookfield Corporation lost 94 cents, or 1.8%, to $52.42, while Manulife parted with 39 cents, or 1.3%, to $29.33.
On the economic docket, the Markit Manufacturing PMI in Canada came in at 48.3 points in January compared to 45.4 in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange zoomed 10.77 points, or 2%, as the closing bell sounded to 561,43.
All but three of the 12 subgroups were higher, with gold soaring 3.5%, materials stronger 2.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks, acquiring 0.7%.
The three laggards were information technology, down 1.1%, while financials and real-estate each lost 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Thursday as stocks recover from a dismal day for the major averages after the Federal Reserve held steady on rates but signaled that a March cut is unlikely.
The blue-chip index popped 369.54 points, or 1%, to 38,519.84.
The S&P 500 index recouped 60.54 points, or 1.3%, to 4,906.19.
The NASDAQ index climbed 197.63 points, or 1.3%, to 15,361.64.
Earnings returned to the forefront with three of the so-called Magnificent Seven reporting results after the market close. Stock in iPhone maker Apple ticked up more than 1%, helping lift the broader S&P 500. Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon climbed more than 2%, while Facebook-parent Meta gained nearly 2%.
Ahead of the market open, pharmaceutical company Merck turned in a fourth-quarter beat, which helped prop up the Dow, as its shares climbed more than 4%.
Wall Street was coming off a poor session. The Dow fell 317 points, or 0.8%, posting its worst day since December. The S&P 500 slid 1.6% on Wednesday in its worst day since September. The NASDAQ Composite lost 2.2%, its worst session since October.
Those losses come after Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his post-meeting conference discouraged investor hopes for a rate cut as soon as March, sending equities tumbling.
Investors will now turn their attention to the first jobs report of the year due out Friday morning.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 3.88% from Wednesday’s 3.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $2.01 to $73.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regrouped $5.30 to $2,072.70.
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