Canada’s main index climbed higher on Thursday, as gold miners gained along higher with prices for the precious metal, and Enbridge Inc was boosted by strong results.
At 11:30 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 72.05 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 15,982.86.
Shares of Enbridge Inc, up 2.5 per cent, were the biggest boost to the main index. Canada’s largest pipeline operator posted first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ forecasts.
The materials group, gained 1.1 per cent, as gold prices strengthened as the dollar edged away from 2018 highs after weaker than forecast U.S. inflation data and simmering tensions between the United States and Iran.
Seven of Canada’s 10 main index sectors were on positive grounds.
Retailer Canadian Tire Corp, down 5.6 per cent, said it would buy Norway-based sportswear and work-wear brand Helly Hansen for $985-million, including debt.
On the earnings front, Telus Corp’s quarterly profit came in slightly below analysts’ estimates as it spent heavily to add wireless subscribers amid stiff competition. Canadian telecom provider’s shares were down 1.3 per cent.
Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, sending its shares up 3.2 per cent.
TMX Group Ltd posted first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat Wall Street estimates, sending shares of Canada’s biggest stock exchange operator up 5.2 per cent.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Great Canadian Gaming Corp, which rose 24.6 per cent, after the company reported on Wednesday a 62-per-cent rise in first-quarter revenue.
Open Text Corp on Wednesday reported third-quarter results that missed analysts’ expectations, sending its shares down 7.5 per cent, making it the largest decliner.
The U.S. dollar slid and U.S. government debt yields fell on Thursday as a modest rise in consumer prices in April damped expectations that faster inflation could lead the Federal Reserve to boost interest rates more than expected in 2018.
The U.S. Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 per cent last month, less than forecasts for 0.3 per cent, as a moderation in healthcare prices offset increases in the cost of gasoline and rental accommodations.
The dollar fell against the euro, the Japanese yen and a basket of other major currencies, while the Mexican peso and Brazilian real jumped about 1 per cent on the news.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes rose 8/32 in price to push yields down to 2.964 per cent after breaching 3 per cent on Wednesday.
“Inflation is going to rise in year-over-year terms over the summer, but the rise remains moderate rather than sharp,” said Eric Winograd, senior economist at AllianceBernstein LP.
The soft read on inflation should give the Fed comfort that their gradual approach to raising rates is the correct one and ease market concerns, he said.
“I view today’s number as a slight positive for risk assets in the near term,” Winograd said.
MSCI’s broad gauge of global equity markets rose 0.51 per cent and turned positive for the year as it hit three-weeks highs.
Chinese internet giant Tencent, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook led the index’s advance, while the U.S. technology sector lifted Wall Street.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.26 per cent, while Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan and the Nikkei in Tokyo both earlier closed higher.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading regional shares fell 0.25 per cent, but shares in London, Germany and France were higher.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 154.43 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 24,696.97. The S&P 500 gained 15.07 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 2,712.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 45.80 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 7,385.70.
Oil prices were in flux and gave up earlier gains as investors took profit on a rally triggered by the potential disruption to crude flows from major exporter Iran in the face of U.S. sanctions.
The United States said on Tuesday it plans to impose new sanctions against Iran after abandoning an agreement reached in late 2015 that curbed Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for removal of U.S. and European sanctions.
Brent crude futures were down 0.08 percent at $77.13 a barrel, after hitting $78 earlier in the day, their highest since November 2014.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were last up just 0.04 per cent at $71.18.
Reuters