Canada’s main stock index opened higher on Thursday, as investors placed bets on beaten-down healthcare shares and miners benefited from stronger bullion prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index regained 21.19 to commence Thursday at 21,953.37.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.09 cents to 79.63 cents U.S.
Brookfield Asset Management and fund manager Morrison & Co entered an exclusivity deed with Uniti Group on Thursday, after a Macquarie-led consortium offered A$5 per share ($3.73 U.S.) for the Australian telecom firm.
Shares in Brookfield grasped 39 cents to $$70.10.
Morgan Stanley cut the rating on First Quantum Minerals to equal-weight from overweight. First Quantum shares acquired 42 cents, or 1%, to $41.87.
Desjardins raised the target price on Neighbourly Pharmacy to $35.00 from $33.00. Neighbourly shares sank 63 cents, or 2%, to $30.67.
National Bank of Canada resumes coverage on Sienna Senior Living with an outperform rating. Shares in Sienna gained three cents to $15.34.
Saskatchewan on Wednesday forecast a deficit of a $463 million in the 2022-23 fiscal year, less than a fifth of last year’s $2.6-billion deficit, as stronger oil and potash prices bring in more revenue.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 3.65 points to 879.85.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with energy picking up 0.4%, materials surging 0.3%, and financials nosing up 0.1%.
The five laggards were weighed most by information technology, sliding 0.9%, health-care , ailing 0.6%, and real-estate, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks bounced Thursday as investors tried to recover from declines in Wednesday’s session.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 190.75 points, or 1.3%, to 34,549.25.
The S&P 500 19.07 points to 4,475.91
The NASDAQ Composite squeaked up two points to 13,924.60.
Stocks have seesawed this week, alternating between up and down days. The Dow is about 1% lower on the week while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite are marginally higher.
Investors are continuing to monitor the war in Ukraine and weigh the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes amid persistent inflation.
NATO leaders met in Brussels Thursday to discuss increasing pressure on Russia, as Ukraine appears to be retaking ground in the war.
On Thursday, Uber gained about 2% after the company announced a deal to list all New York City taxis on its app.
Chip stocks Nvidia and Intel both rose around 4% a day after semiconductor executives testified in front of Congress in support of billions of dollars in chip manufacturing subsidies.
Materials was the top performing S&P 500 sector. Mosaic and Freeport-McMoRan each added more than 3%.
On the downside, KB Home dropped 1% after an earnings miss Wednesday.
On the data front, initial jobless claims last week totaled 187,000, the lowest level since 1969, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Treasury prices sagged, raising yields to 2.35% from Wednesday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded $2.06 to $112.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $15.90 to $1,946.80 U.S. an ounce.