Equities in Canada’s largest centre raised themselves Thursday, definitively out of the hole they’d dug for themselves on Wednesday, rebounding from a selloff triggered by fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections, while tumbling oil prices kept the energy sector decidedly in the red.
The TSX leaped 84.13 points to close Thursday at 15,670.70.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents to 75.11 cents U.S.
Health-care issues led the charge, with Trillium Pharmaceuticals vaulting $1.13, or 7%, to $17.22, while Aurora Cannabis took on 35 cents, or 6.9%, to $5.43.
Among real-estate concerns, FirstService hiked $10.51, or 6.1%, to $182.08, while Brookfield Property Partners acquired 75 cents, or 4.1%, to $18.93.
Financials scored big, too, with Industrial Alliance spiking $1.86, or 4.1%, to $46.75, while ONEX Corp. amassed $1.46, or 2.6%, to $58.35.
Among the laggards, Husky Oil stepped backward 18 cents, or 5%, to $3.39, while Cenovus Energy lost 23 cents, or 5%, to $4.36.
Tech shares ran out of gas, as Absolute Software dipped 68 cents, or 4.3%, to $15.22, while Shopify fell $55.14, or 4%, to $1,308.87.
Among consumer staples, Primo Water gave back 12 cents to $16.85, while Empire Company slid 22 cents to $37.07.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer rose by 303,200 (or 2.0%) in August.
This followed large increases in July (759,500, or 5.3%) and June (665,500, or 4.9%), and brought the total payroll employment change since February to a decrease of 1.6 million (or 9.5%).
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 9.22 points, or 1.4%, to end Thursday at 687.15.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher by the closing bell, with health-care up 2%, real-estate progressing 1.9%, and financials, up but 1.6%.
The three laggards were energy, skidding 0.4%, information technology fading 0.3%, and consumer staples, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Thursday, clawing back some of their losses from the previous session, as shares of major tech companies advanced ahead of their quarterly earnings reports. Sentiment also got a lift from better-than-expected economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 268.93 points, or 1%, to 26,788.88.
The S&P 500 increased 39.08 points, or 1.2%, to 3,310.11. Thursday marked the first daily gain for the Dow in five days. The S&P 500 snapped a three-day slide.
The NASDAQ popped 180.73 points, or 1.6%, to 11,185.59.
Thursday’s moves came a day after the market’s biggest selloff in months. Both the Dow and S&P 500 had their worst day on Wednesday since June.
Shares of Amazon acquired 1.5%, and Apple rose 3.7%. Alphabet closed 3.1% higher and Facebook popped nearly 5%. Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors gained more than 1%, including tech and communication services. Netflix, meanwhile, surged more than 5% after the company announced it will raise prices for U.S. subscribers.
Amazon and Alphabet reported better-than-expected earnings after the bell along with Facebook. Apple was slated to report later in the evening.
More than 270 S&P 500 companies have reported calendar third-quarter earnings thus far. Of those companies, 85% have reported better-than-expected earnings. Despite the high beat rate, several stocks have fallen after releasing their quarterly results.
U.S. gross domestic product for the third quarter expanded at a 33.1% annualized pace, its fastest growth ever. The reading came after a 31.4% plunge in the second quarter and was better than the 32% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Meanwhile, the number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers declined for a second straight week and hit its lowest level since March. Initial weekly U.S. jobless claims came in at 751,000 for the week ending Oct. 24, better than a Dow Jones estimate of 778,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury fell hard, raising yields to 0.83% from Wednesday’s 0.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.06 at $36.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $8.60 to $1,870.60