Equities in Canada’s largest centre kept their upward momentum by Thursday’s closing bell, as energy’s gains provided a special spur.
The TSX Composite gained 105.54 points to conclude Thursday at 20,795.12, yet another all-time record for the index.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.43 cents to 79.66 cents U.S.
Among those brilliant energy plays, Parex Resources captured $1.57, or 8%, to $21.11, while Cenovus Energy picked up 61 cents, or 5.8%, to $11.10.
In health-care, Organigram Holdings triumphed 15 cents, or 4.6%, to $3.44, while Canopy Growth roared ahead 64 cents, or 3%, to $21.91.
Industrials had their moment in the sun, too, as CAE rocketed $1.56, or 4.2%, to $38.64, while SNC Lavalin hurtled higher $1.33, or 3.8%, to $36.15.
The only sour note was struck by gold stocks, most notably, Centerra Gold, down 20 cents, or 2.1%, to $9.24, while New Gold lost three cents, or 2%, to $1.46.
Canadians will face a stark choice on how to tackle a child care crisis when they go to the polls on Sept. 20, with the ruling Liberals vowing to push ahead with a subsidized daycare system and the rival Conservatives offering tax credits to parents.
Canada will donate more than 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to three African countries through the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, GAVI said on Thursday.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported the total value of building permits in Canada decreased 3.9% to $9.9 billion in July.
All provinces except British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador posted lower values, with the majority of the national decline reported in Alberta (-23.4%).
Meanwhile, Canada’s merchandise imports rose 4.2% and exports increased 0.6%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus narrowed from $2.6 billion in June to $778 million in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.16 points, to 907.70
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups shot up Thursday, as energy gushed 3.2%, health-care jumped 1.4%, and industrials improved 1.1%.
Only gold fell, and only 0.2% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 climbed to an all-time high on Thursday after weekly jobless claims came in slightly better than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrials vaulted 131.29 points to greet the closing bell Thursday at 35,443.82, lifted by Walgreens and Chevron.
The S&P 500 progressed 12.86 points to 4,536.95 for its 54th record closing high of 2021.
The NASDAQ Composite improved upon Wednesday’s record close by 21.8 points, to 15,331.18.
On Thursday, Chewy tumbled 9% and Five Below fumbled 8%, making them among the notable movers, after reporting quarterly results.
Shares of ChargePoint, the maker of charge systems for electric vehicles, jumped 12% after reporting stellar quarterly earnings. First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 340,000 for the week ended August 28, versus a Dow Jones expectation of 345,000.
The number is also the lowest since March 2020 at the height of the COVID crisis.
The data came in a day before the key August jobs report, which investors are watching closely to decipher how fast the Federal Reserve will remove easy monetary policy. Economists predict 720,000 jobs were added in the month, down from 943,000 jobs added in July.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were higher, lowering yields to 1.29% from Wednesday’s 1.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.13 to $69.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices backpedaled $3.60 to $1,812.40 U.S. an ounce.
