Equities in Canada’s largest market remained higher by triple digits Thursday morning, as consumer and energy stocks led the way.
The S&P/TSX Composite came off its highs of the morning, but still bettered breakeven by 155.32 points, to pause for lunch at 20,751.21.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.29 cents at 78.72 cents U.S.
Consumer stocks mounted the top step of the podium late Thursday morning, with Dollarama rocketing $2.27, or 3.7%, to $63.70, while Linamar improving $1.25, or 1.8%, to $69.17.
Energy shares also moved higher with Whitecap Resources jumping 28 cents, or 3.3%, to $8.89, while Baytex Energy soaring 14 cents, or 3.2%, to $4.57.
Gold stocks did not fare so well, though, as New Gold dropped nine cents, or 4.4%, to $1.97, while Wesdome shed 29 cents, or 2.6%, to $11.09.
In health-care, Tilray slid 24 cents, or 3.4%, to $6.78, while Aurora Cannabis ditched 16 cents, or 3.1%, to $4.96.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer rose by 37,200 (+0.2%) in November, the sixth consecutive monthly increase, bringing it to within 0.4% of its pre-pandemic level.
Moreover, The Bank of Canada will soon start hiking interest rates from record lows to combat inflation, Governor Tiff Macklem announced on Wednesday, saying the economy no longer needed help to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sagged 4.07 points to 848.38.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups remained positive, with consumer discretionary stocks up 1.8%, energy and consumer staples chugging along 1.4% each.
The three laggards proved to be gold, down 1.1%, health-care, ailing 0.9%, and materials off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose Thursday as investors mulled over a better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP report and an update from the Federal Reserve on its rate hike plan.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 470.84 points, or 1.4%, to 34,638.93
The S&P 500 recovered 57.44 points, or 1.3%, to 4,407.37.
The NASDAQ surged 141 points, or 1%, to 13,683.12.
Netflix jumped more than 8% on news that Pershing’s Bill Ackman bought 3.1 million shares. ServiceNow surged 11.7% after better-than-expected quarterly results.
On the downside, Intel lost 6% and Tesla fell 5% despite a strong earnings report. Robinhood dipped 2% ahead of reporting quarterly results after the closing bell.
Investors continued to digest the latest update on monetary policy as the Federal Open Market Committee strongly indicated the first interest rate hike since late 2018 could come as soon as March.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell rattled markets Wednesday saying the central bank has "quite a bit of room" to raise rates before negatively impacting employment.
Fourth-quarter gross domestic product jumped 6.9% from the year prior, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the economy grew at a 5.5% annualized pace in the final three months of 2021.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.81% from Wednesday’s 1.87%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eases back five cents to $87.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $37.20 to $1,792.50 U.S. an ounce.
