Canadian stocks were moving higher Thursday morning amid upbeat economic data from the U.S., Canada’s largest trading partner. First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than anticipated last week and new residential construction increased by far more than expected in the month of December.
However, concerns over political impasse in the U.S. over government’s borrowing limit capped big gains.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 41.49 points or 0.33 percent to 12,650.31, a day after snapping its six-session winning streak.
The price of crude oil was extending gains Thursday morning on supply concerns after Islamist militants attacked an Algerian gas field and EIA revealed unexpected dip in US crude oil inventories last week.
Wednesday during market hours, the the EIA revealed that U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly dipped by 1 million barrels, while gasoline stocks were up 1.90 million barrels in the weekended January 11. Analysts expected crude oil inventories to gain by 2.10 million barrels and gasoline stocks to add 2.3 million barrels last week.
Crude for February added $1.13 to $95.37 a barrel.
In the oil patch, Bonterra Energy (BNE.TO) rose over 2 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) and Nexen Inc. (NXY.TO) were up around 1 percent each.
Exploration and development company Afferro Mining Inc. (AFF.L, AFF.V) jumped over 5 percent after it confirmed that it is in discussions with all potential offerors from whom it has received approaches, including Jindal Steel and Power Limited.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) and Khazanah Nasional Berhad announced that they would acquire 98 percent of CIMB Aviva Assurance Berhad, a Malaysian life insurance company, and CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, a Malaysian takaful company, for about C$586 million. Shares of Sunlife added over 1 percent.
Uranium miner Denison Mines Corp. (DML.TO) jumped over 5 percent after it said it would acquire a portfolio of uranium exploration projects from Fission Energy Corp. (FIS.V) in exchange of 0.355 shares of Denison for each share of Fission held. Shares of Fission Energy shed over 1 percent.
The price of gold was moving higher Thursday morning as the US dollar was mixed amid today’s macroeconomic data. Gold for February added $3.30 to $1,686.50 an ounce.
Among gold plays, Newcrest Mining Limited (NM.TO0 jumped 11 percent, while Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) were losing about 1 percent each.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said Canadian investment in foreign securities strengthened to $7.8 billion in November, while foreign investment in Canadian securities slowed to $5.6 billion, mainly federal government debt instruments. Nevertheless, the average monthly foreign investment in Canadian securities still stands well above that of Canadian investment in foreign securities since 2009.
From the U.S., the Labor Department said that initial jobless claims fell to 335,000, a decrease of 37,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 372,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to show a much more modest decrease to 368,000 from the 371,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A report from the U.S. Commerce Department revealed that housing starts jumped 12.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 954,000 in December from the revised November estimate of 851,000. Economists had expected housing starts to climb to an annual rate of 887,000 from the 861,000 originally reported for the previous month. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, edged up by a much more modest 0.3 percent to an annual rate of 903,000.
Elsewhere, euro area construction fell further in November, data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed. Construction output declined a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent year-on-year in November, after falling a revised 3.3 percent in October. Building construction fell 5.3 percent, while civil engineering output declined by 3.3 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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