It was the fifth straight winning session for stocks in Canada’s largest market, paced by strength in health-care and tech issues.
The S&P/TSX leaped 148.43 points to conclude Thursday at 20,532.18
The Canadian dollar gained 0.27 cents to 78.27 cents U.S.
Cannabis led the pack, with Canopy Growth ripping loose, gaining 71 cents, or 11%, to $7.15, while Tilray hopped 27 cents, or 4.8%, to $5.95.
Tech issues were also in clover, with Lightspeed POS up $3.17, or 11%, to $31.94, while Nuvei Corporation jumping $4.81. or 8.1%, to $64.57.
In industrials, Ballard Power surged 63 cents, or 7.2%, to $9.41, while Lifeworks hiked 99 cents, or 6.4%. to $16.50.
Gold and materials weighed things down, though, as Barrick Gold surrendered 78 cents, or 2.9%, to $26.41, while Yamana Gold docked 16 cents, or 2.3%, to $6.69.
Nutrien sagged $3.34, or 2.7%, to $122.57, while Agnico Eagle Mines slipped $1.57, or 2.2%, to $68.64.
Communications also saw the down side, with Quebecor dropping 21 cents to $28.87, while Shaw Communications fell 13 cents to $36.11
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada informed us retail sales were virtually unchanged in March. Sales were up in 10 of 11 subsectors, led by higher sales at gasoline stations.
Lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers erased the gains observed in the remaining subsectors.
Elsewhere, the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured by StatsCan’s Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours as payroll employment—increased by 118,100 (or 0.7%) in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 12.92 points, or 1.8%, to 714.66.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive by the close, health-care stocks prospering 3.5%, and information technology popping 1.9%, and industrials, climbing 1.8%.
The three laggards were gold, sagging 1.1%, materials, tailing off 0.7%, and communications, negative 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Thursday, as Wall Street rebounded from a long string of weekly declines.
The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 516.91 points, or 1.6%, to 32,637.19.
The S&P 500 jumped 79.11 points, or 2%, to 4,057.84.
The NASDAQ Composite popped 305.91 points, or 2.7%, to 11,740.65, helped by a surge in Dollar Tree shares. The tech-focused index was the outperformer, after trailing the other averages earlier in the day.
The Dow has fallen the last eight weeks, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are riding seven-week losing streaks.
The market seems to have somewhat regained its footing this week, as investors hope inflation is starting to peak and that there’s good value to be found at these levels. The Dow has hurtled 4.4%, and S&P 500 is up 4%, for the week. The NASDAQ is up 3.4%.
The moves come after strong earnings from the retail sector gave a boost to investor sentiment, which was bruised by disappointing results from big-box retailers last week. Stocks pushed higher after strong earnings from the retail sector gave a boost to investor sentiment, which was bruised by disappointing results from big-box retailers last week.
Macy’s shares surged 16.1% after the company raised its 2022 profit outlook, and Williams-Sonoma rose 13% after beating estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Discount retailer Dollar Tree jumped 21.9% after posting an earnings beat and helped push the NASDAQ higher. Dollar General also reported strong earnings, adding 13.7% to its shares. Investors are looking forward to Costco’s quarterly results, which it will report after the bell.
First-quarter gross domestic product declined at a 1.5% annual pace, worse than the 1.3% Dow Jones estimate and a writedown from the initially reported 1.4%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending May 14 totaled 218,000, which was an increase from the previous period and slightly higher than the 215,000 estimate.
Treasury prices regained lost strength, lowering yields to 2.75% from Wednesday’s 2.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $3.53 to $113.86 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $3.50 to $1,840.80 U.S. an ounce.
