Equities in Canada’s biggest centre advanced with a vengeance on Thursday, boosted by positive corporate earnings amid broader gains, while a better-than-expected jobs report in the United States eased recession worries.
The TSX Composite Index climbed 295.61 points, or 1.4%, to 22,176.56.
The Canadian dollar inched upward 0.04 cents at 72.75 cents U.S.
Among stocks, Manulife Financial reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, powered by a 40% rise in earnings from Asia.
Shares in the insurer rose 86 cents, or 2.6%, to $34.05.
Restaurant Brands International beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue, as its Tim Hortons and Burger King outlets enjoyed steady demand. Restaurant Brands hiked three dollars, or 3.1%, to $99.97.
Canadian Tire Corporation returned to its Wednesday perch of $202.00 after its second-quarter earnings beat.
Pan American Silver fell $1.41, or 5.3% to the bottom of the TSX at $25.35, after it missed profit estimates for the second quarter.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 6.82 points, or 1.3%. to 540.55.
All 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday, led by information technology, skyrocketing 2.3%, while health-care popped 2.2%, and consumer discretionary stocks acquired 1.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks climbed Thursday after new labour market data boosted investors’ confidence in the U.S. economy following a sharp market sell-off earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial index popped 556.73 points, or 1.4%, to 39, 320.18
The S&P 500 index recovered 104.15 points, or 2%, to 5,303.65.
The NASDAQ surged 407.12 points, or 2.5%, to 16,602.93.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly surged around 9% after posting better-than-expected earnings and raising its full-year outlook on strong demand for diabetes treatment Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound. The momentum names which suffered the most Monday bounced back Thursday.
Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom jumped 4% and 5.2%, respectively. Meta Platforms climbed 3%, and Apple ticked up 1.3%.
The moves come after stocks were unable to hold an early rally on Wednesday, fueling concerns that the factors that caused Monday’s selloff haven’t gone away. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite sank 1.1%. The 30-stock Dow shed 0.6%.
All three averages have declined in four of the past five sessions.
The latest weekly jobless claims came in below forecasts, helping to allay some recent concerns on the strength of the labour market. First-time filings for jobless benefits came in at 233,000 last week, down 17,000 from the previous week and lower than the Dow Jones estimate for 240,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury backed off, yields hiking to 3.99% from Wednesday’s 3.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices prospered 71 cents at $75.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $25.90 to $2,459.40.
