Canada's resources-heavy index continued forward Thursday though weakness in commodity-linked stocks outweighed gains in tech stocks driven by upbeat earnings from Salesforce.
The TSX gained another 140.04 points to break for lunch Thursday at 34,267.37.
The Canadian dollar sagged 0.04 cents at 73.07 cents U.S.
Among after-the-bell results on Wednesday, specialty label maker CCL Industries' fourth-quarter revenue missed estimates. CCL shares opened Thursday down $2.38, or 2.7%, to $86.83.
Design and consulting firm Stantec reported quarterly profit above estimates. Stantec shares tacked on $5.21, or 4.2%, to $128.70.
Among banks in Canada, Royal Bank of Canada shares fell 1.9%, even as the lender's fourth-quarter profit beat estimates, while CIBC and Toronto Dominion Bank gained 3.6% and 0.8% respectively after a rise in quarterly profit.
Canadian Utilities' shares fell 2.6% after reporting a decline in quarterly profit, sending utilities stocks down 0.1%.
Apparel maker Gildan's shares declined 5.5% after quarterly results. The broader consumer discretionary stocks dropped 0.3%.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—decreased by 35,400 (-0.2%) in December, following little change in November.
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was down 28,300 (-0.2%) in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 0.65 points to 1,087.57.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, with industrials up 1.1%, gold shinier 0.8%, and real-estate ahead 0.6%.
The two laggards proved to be health-care, sliding 1%, and consumer staples, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 pulled back on Thursday as the latest results from tech titan Nvidia and software giant Salesforce weren’t enough to boost the broader market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 165.61 points to 49,316.54.
The much broader index lost 67.16 points, or 1%, to 6,878.97.
The NASDAQ stumbled 384.32 points, or 1.7%, to 22,767.76.
Nvidia shares were last lower by about 5%, even after the chip giant posted a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The decline put the stock on pace for its worst day since April. Other chip stocks such as Broadcom, Lam Research, Western Digital and Applied Materials all fell more than 6%.
On the flip side, Salesforce rose 2% after the software company’s latest quarterly results beat on the top and bottom lines. The move higher was kept in check by a disappointing fiscal 2027 revenue forecast. Salesforce has been one of the biggest victims of recent artificial intelligence disruption fears.
The financial and real estate sectors also moved up in the session, with stocks such as JPMorgan Chase taking on 0.7% and CBRE Group adding 1.6%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 4.03% from Wednesday’s 4.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.03 to $66.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $20.20 to $5,206.00 U.S. an ounce.
