Equity indexes in Toronto opened higher on Thursday as major lenders reported better-than-expected results, pointing to a healthy banking sector as well as a resilient economy.
The TSX added 129.63 points to fire up Thursday’s session at 31,290.17.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 71.67 cents U.S.
On Thursday, CIBC reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit helped by strength in its capital markets division. Shares in “The Commerce” grabbed $2.12, or 1.8%, to $123.39.
Bank of Montreal and TD Bank also reported a rise in quarterly profits. Shares in “The First Canadian Bank” sagged $2.62, or 1.5%, to $174.40, while TD shares jumped $1.35, or 1.2%, to $119.05.
Shares of the big six Canadian banks have outperformed the TSX so far this year as the lenders bet on fee-based, high-margin businesses to drive expansion at a time loan growth in personal and commercial banking segments has stalled due to economic uncertainty.
Logistics software firm Descartes beat analyst estimates of third-quarter revenue. Descartes shares roared ahead $11.49, or 9.9%, to $127.30.
In other news, U.S. President Donald Trump could decide next year to withdraw from the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), Politico reported, citing U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
On the economic slate, the IVEY School of Business published its PMI for November, index faltered to 48.4 from 52.4 in October. maintaining the 52.3 reading for November 2024.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchanged stumbled 8.04 points to 934.96.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups moved toward daylight. Health-care grabbed 0.9%, while financials and information technology each climbed 0.8%.
Only gold and materials were in the red, each down 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were relatively unchanged on Thursday as investors grow more confident in a December interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials backed off 56.66 points to kick off Thursday at 47,826.24.
The S&P 500 Index forfeited 10.45 points to 6,839.27.
The NASDAQ sifted off 57.15 points to 23,396.94.
Investors focused on a report from job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showing announced job cuts in November from U.S. employers moved further ahead of one million for the year as corporate restructuring, artificial intelligence and tariffs helped pare job rolls.
On Wednesday, numbers from ADP revealed a surprising slump in private payrolls.
Mounting signs that the labor market is softening has led Wall Street to be convinced the Fed will cut rates a quarter percentage point at its Dec. 10 meeting, the last of the year.
Markets are pricing in an 89% chance of a cut next Wednesday, far higher than just a couple weeks ago,
On Thursday, investors largely overlooked the latest weekly jobless claims numbers that showed new applications for unemployment insurance at their lowest level since Sept. 2022.
Jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 29 totaled a seasonally adjusted 191,000, down 27,000 from the prior period and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 220,000.
Salesforce, a member of the Dow, edged higher after the software company offered a stronger-than-expected revenue forecast.
The 10-year Treasury weakened, raising yields to 4.09% from Wednesday’s 4.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained nine cents to $59.04.
Gold prices eked up one dollar to $4,233.50.
