Equities in Canada’s largest centre rose on Thursday as strong commodity prices lifted energy and materials stocks, while a retreat in U.S. Treasury yields eased fears of rising U.S. inflation further boosting sentiment.
The TSX perked 152.85 points to stop for lunch hour Thursday at 18,842.85
The Canadian dollar gained 0.31 cents to 79.55 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Linamar Corp, hiking $10.15, or 12.7%, to $90.16, and Premium Brands Holdings, which jumped $6.50, or 5.9%, to $117.31, after both companies reported fourth-quarter results.
Ivanhoe Mines fell 18 cents, or 2.3%, to $7.52, after the miner arranged private placement of convertible senior notes.
Bausch Health Companies recovered from early morning losses to gain 31 cents to $41.77, after the firm named insider Sam Eldessouky as its new finance chief.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved ahead 5.49 points, to 973.72.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground Thursday morning, with health-care zooming 2.3%, energy rumbling 1.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks rocketing 1.6%.
The lone holdout was in gold, capsizing 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks climbed Thursday with major averages notching new records as investors flocked into their growth tech darlings again amid easing fears of inflation and rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average boomed 341.52 points, or 1.1%, at 32,638.54, to hit another intraday record.
The S&P advanced 56.69 points, or 1.5%, to begin the day at 3,995.60, to reach an all-time high, its first record since Feb. 16.
The NASDAQ Composite popped 338.92 points, or 2.6%, to 13,407.75, amid a rotation back into tech shares. Tesla was up 4%. Apple,
Facebook and Netflix all jumped at least 2%, while Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft shares were also higher.
The NASDAQ dipped into correction territory on Monday, falling more than 10% from its recent high. Now the tech-heavy benchmark is about 6% off its record high.
House Democrats passed a $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief bill Wednesday, sending it to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law Friday.
The economic reopening, coupled with additional fiscal stimulus, accelerated the rotation into more cyclical sectors, such as energy. The S&P 500 energy sector has been the biggest winner this year, up 40% so far.
On the data front, investors cheered a slightly better-than-expected reading on weekly jobless claims. The U.S. Labor Department reported that first-time filings for unemployment insurance in the week ended March 6 totaled a seasonally adjusted 712,000, below the Dow Jones estimate of 725,000.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys dipped, raising yields to 1.53% from Wednesday’s 1.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.26 to $65.70 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices descended 90 cents to $1,720.90.