Equities in Canada’s largest market fought doggedly back toward the breakeven point Thursday, amid more uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East
The TSX slid 10.11 points to conclude Thursday at 36,136.31.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.02 cents at 71.35 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources beat second-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, benefiting from higher oil and natural gas production, while AtkinsRéalis and Quebecor also posted a rise in quarterly revenue.
Shares in Natural Resources moved higher 98 cents, or 1.6%, to $63.83, while those for Atkins grabbed $1.63, or 1.8%, to $90.80.
Quebecor shares regained $3.77, or 5.8%, to $65.22, those for BCE gained $1.03, or 3.3%, to $31.85.
Restaurant Brands International beat overall same-store sales growth expectations for the second quarter, helped by resilient demand at its Burger King chain in the U.S.
The parent company of Tim Hortons fell $1.84, or 1.9%, to $102.31.
Lundin Mining and McEwen also reported a rise in second-quarter revenue late on Wednesday.
Lundin shares subsided $1.18, or 3%, to $37.59. McEwen fell $2.39, or 8.6%, to $25.49.
At least six brokerages hiked price targets for Shopify after the e-commerce firm forecast quarterly revenue above estimates.
Shopify jumped $4.45, or 2.2%, to $206.43.
Elsewhere in techs, Celestica ditched $66.34, or 13.1%, to $442.09, while Lightspeed Commerce moved backward 23 cents, or 1.4%, to $14.33.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.95 points to 926.78
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups faded on the day, weighed most by information technology, dropping 2.1%, while real-estate, 1.9%, and consumer discretionary fell 1.8%.
The four gainers were led by telecoms, better by 2%, while gold and energy were both higher 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Thursday as traders kept an eye on the Middle East, with a deal to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz in the works, besides weighing a slew of corporate earnings releases.
The Dow Jones Industrials plunged 463.96 points, to end Thursday at 53,885.16. weighed by a 4% drop in shares of Salesforce after the company announced a leadership shuffle.
The much-broader index backed off 13.57 points to 7,709.98.
The NASDAQ Composite fell 15.09 points to 26,348.35.
Sandisk shares dropped 4%. The memory name posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that failed to impress investors.
Additionally, AppLovin tumbled 19% on mixed quarterly results, and Western Digital shed 12% as the company’s first-quarter forecast disappointed investors. Those results topped expectations, however.
Over the past 12 months, Sandisk has soared 3,000%, while Western Digital has surged more than 500%.
Oil prices rose after Iranian state news, citing a member of the country’s parliament, reported that a draft plan regarding ship traffic conditions in the Strait of Hormuz would supposedly ban U.S. and Israeli ships from moving through the key passageway. The plan is currently being reviewed by an Iranian parliamentary committee, state news agency Fars said.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 4.67% from Wednesday’s 4.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded $2.66 to $77.88 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices plummeted $8.60 to $4,296.60 U.S. an ounce.
