Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Thursday, as higher oil prices boosted energy stocks and shares in Canadian Pacific Railway and Rogers Communications rose after the companies reported better-than-expected earnings.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 37.85 points to begin trading Thursday at 15,282.56
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.06 cents to 79.40 cents U.S.
Rogers posted a 35% rise in second-quarter profit as it added more subscribers. Its shares took on 91 cents, or 1.4%, to $64.92.
BlackBerry said on Thursday it has won the right to sell tools for encrypting phone calls and text messages to the U.S. federal government, garnering an endorsement from the National Security Agency for the products.
BlackBerry shares gained 19 cents, or 1.9%, to $12.97.
Canadian electric utility Hydro One Ltd said on Wednesday that it would buy rival Avista Corp for about $6.7 billion to expand into the U.S. Northwest.
Hydro One shares plummeted 83 cents, or 3.7%, to $21.70.
Kinder Morgan Canada President Ian Anderson says little major construction will happen on the company’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion this year although construction remains on schedule to begin in September.
RBC cut the rating on Advantage Oil & Gas to sector perform from outperform. Advantage docked 17 cents, or 1.9%, to $8.99.
CIBC raised the rating on Transat AT to neutral from underperform. Transat shares gained 20 cents, or 3%, to $6.80.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported that 525,300 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits, down 12,800, or 2.4%, from April.
The agency says this continues a downward trend that began in late autumn 2016, reflecting the relative strength observed in the economy.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.32 points to 767.27.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive to start out, with telecoms vaulting 0.7%, health-care and financials both up 0.4%.
The three laggards were utilities, down 0.2%, gold off 0.1%, and information technology shares sliding 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
Two of the major U.S. stock indices --the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ composite -- both hit intraday highs on Thursday, continuing their record-setting run.
The Dow Jones Industrials backed off Thursday from its all-time high of Wednesday – dropping 9.2 points to 21,631.55, with Nike contributing the most gains. The athletic apparel maker's stock was upgraded at Morgan Stanley on Wednesday. However, a decline in Home Depot was pressuring the index.
The S&P 500 added 2.24 points to another high of 2,476.07,
The NASDAQ gained 5.1 points to 6,390.15, also a record high.
EBay, Microsoft and Visa are some of the major names set to report. Blackstone, Travelers, Philip Morris and Polaris are among the companies that reported earlier on Thursday.
Overall, most companies have reported solid quarterly results thus far in the earnings season. Of the 76 S&P 500 companies that have reported as of Thursday morning, 76% have topped earnings expectations while 74% have exceeded sales estimates
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose Thursday, docking yields to 2.25% from Wednesday’s 2.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 25 cents to $47.37 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $2.20 to $1,239.80 U.S. an ounce.
