Stocks in Toronto shook off the bad vibes by Thursday’s close, and actually pulled into positive territory, most as resource stocks took charge.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up gaining 6.45 points to conclude the session at 14,509.66.
The Canadian dollar progressed 0.31 cents to 71.24 cents U.S.
The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, raising fears of a longer-than-expected economic recovery.
Gold stocks were on the march Thursday, as Alamos Gold perked 55 cents, or 5% to $11.51, while Barrick Gold picked up $1.31, or 3.6%, to $38.16.
Among materials, Endeavour Mining hiked $1.90, or 6.7%, to $30.24, while Semafo galloped 28 cents, or 7%, to $4.26.
In real-estate, Brookfield Property Partners added 47 cents, or 3.9%, to $12.52, while First Capital REIT units strengthened 42 cents, or 3.6%, to $12.23.
Industrials led a small clutch of subgroups going in a negative direction, as Ag Growth dipped $1.54, or 5.6%, to $26.30, while Badger Daylighting faded 93 cents, or 3.4%, to $26.41.
In techs, Celestica dropped 27 cents, or 3.4%, to $7.75, while Lightspeed POS, off 79 cents, or 3.3%, to $23.00.
Consumer staples also got roughed up, as Metro fell 59 cents, or 1%, to $57.94, while Empire Company lost 22 cents to $30.19.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales fell 9.2% to $50.8 billion in March, the lowest level since June 2016 and the largest percentage decline since December 2008, during the previous recession.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 4.85 points, or 1%, to 498.26
Seven of the 12 TSX had moved onto positive ground by the close, as gold brightened 2.8%, materials strengthened 1.7%, and real-estate proved 1% more solid.
The five laggards were weighed most by industrials, down 1.3%, information technology, off 1%, and consumer staples, fading 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday as gains in bank shares and the oil market offset another dismal round of U.S. unemployment data.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from heavy losses in the morning, and raced ahead 246.66 points, or 1.1%, to 23,494.63. The Dow also snapped a three-day losing streak.
The S&P 500 rebounded 32.5 points, or 1.2%, to 2,852.50.
The NASDAQ restocked 80.55 points to 8,943.72.
Still, the major averages remained on track for their worst weekly performance since March 20. The S&P 500 and Dow have both lost more than 2.6% this week while the NASDAQ has fallen 1.9%.
Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase gained at least 4% each. Citigroup ended the session 3.6% higher while Wells Fargo advanced over 6.8%.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday a total of 2.981 million Americans filed unemployment insurance during the week ending May 9. The number came in worse than expectations of 2.7 million new claims, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury grew, lowering yields to 0.62% from Wednesday’s 0.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices leaped $2.43 to $27.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $22.80 to $1,739.20 U.S. an ounce.
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