Equities in Canada’s biggest centre moved higher midday Thursday helped by a rebound in mining stocks and gains for Canadian Imperial
Bank of Commerce after better-than-expected earnings.
The S&P/TSX Composite recovered 26.44 points to greet noon at 14,652.68, after Wednesday’s 130-point-plus loss.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.05 at 77.31 cents U.S.
Goldcorp Inc rose 1.9% to $21.11, but after having hit a four-month low earlier in the session at $20.36.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Mexican regulators said they are examining whether Goldcorp broke any regulations in its handling of a long-running leak of contaminated water at Mexico's biggest gold mine.
The health care group advanced. led by a 4.6% gain for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc to $41.20.
CIBC rose 1.8% to $103.85.
Both Commerce and Toronto-Dominion Bank reported earnings ahead of expectations on Thursday, continuing a strong performance by leading Canadian lenders in the last quarter.
Still, the shares of TD were slightly lower at $57.53 and the overall financials group was nearly unchanged.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $958 in June, up 0.4% from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, average weekly earnings increased 0.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 8.62 points to 798.14
All but two of the 12 subgroups had turned positive by noon, with health-care and gold stocks each spiking 1.4%, while materials gained 1%.
The two laggards were real-estate, down 0.2%, and financials, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded around breakeven Thursday, a day ahead of a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, and following the release of solid economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 22.8 points by noon to 18,458.68, with Apple leading decliners and Pfizer the top riser.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.8 points to 2,174.64, with energy leading four sectors lower and materials the top advancer. Investors also kept an eye on health care a day after posting its worst day since June 24.
The sector fell Wednesday after presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted about Mylan's price increases of the allergy drug EpiPen.
The NASDAQ Composite nicked up 1.59 points to 5,219.28
Investors also analyzed strong economic data released Thursday. Initial jobless claims fell for a third straight week to 61,000. Durable goods orders for July rose 4.4%, above expectations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 1.57% from Wednesday’s 1.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices remained positive 18 cents a barrel to $46.95 U.S.
Gold prices fell $4.60 at $1,325.10 U.S. an ounce.
