Canada’s commodity-heavy main stock index hit a record high on Thursday and was on track for its best monthly performance in five, as a rally in gold prices lifted precious metal miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index started Thursday in the plus column 38.27 points to 22,114.23.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.2 cents to 79.90 cents U.S.
Shares in wealth manager Brewin Dolphin leapt 61% on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada made a 1.6-billion-pound ($2.1 billion U.S.) all-cash offer for the firm, the latest in a string of wealth management acquisitions in Britain.
RBC shares slipped eight cents to $139.80.
Suncor Energy said on Wednesday it had extinguished a fire at its 146,000-barrel-per-day Edmonton refinery that broke out in the morning and caused one injury. Suncor retreated 17 cents to $41.10.
Cowen and Company cut the target price on Air Canada to $29.00 from $32.00. Shares in the Maple Leaf Airline inched ahead 10 cents to $24.43.
RBC raised the target price on Dollarama to $79.00 from $77.00. Dollarama acquired 28 cents to $71.47.
National Bank of Canada resumed coverage on Petroshale with a sector perform rating, and a one-dollar price target. Petroshale shares lost a penny, or 1.2%, to 83 cents.
Capping further advances on Thursday, the healthcare sector fell on weakness in pot stocks such as Tilray, which collapsed 24 cents, or 2.4%, to $9.89, Canopy Growth, retreating 24 cents, or 2.4%, to $9.69, and Aurora Cannabis, off 13 cents, or 2.5%, to $5.04.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported real gross domestic product grew 0.2% in January, attributable to goods-producing industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.02 points to 890.54.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground in the first hour, with utilities chugging 0.7%, consumer staples improved 0.6%, and gold brighter by 0.5%.
The three laggards were health-care, ailing 0.9%, information technology, reversing 0.4%, and energy, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were lower in early trading Thursday as traders wrap up a rocky first quarter for Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 172.08 points to begin Thursday’s trading at 35,056.73
The S&P 500 faded 16.64 points to 4,585.81.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 64.24 points to 14,378.03.
Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance dropped 6%, weighing on the Dow. The pharmacy chain beat estimates for its fiscal second quarter, though that was due in part to demand for pandemic-related products.
Some tech stocks were under pressure Thursday amid analyst concerns over the PC market going forward. AMD shares slid more than 3% after analysts at Barclays downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight. Meanwhile, HP Inc let go of 4.7%, and Dell dipped 5.5%, after being downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Thursday marks the last trading day of March and of the first quarter. Stocks have rallied in the second half of the month, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ on pace to finish the month up about 5% each and the Dow up nearly 4%.
However, for the first quarter, the Dow and S&P 500 are both down about 3%, and the NASDAQ is off more than 7%. For all three averages, this will be the first negative quarter since the first quarter of 2020, which marked the start of the COVID pandemic in the U.S.
In Ukraine, Russian forces continued to hold their positions around Kyiv and shell the capital city, according to U.K. intelligence officials.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said payments for Russian natural gas will need to be made in rubles, Reuters reported, further complicating energy supply issues for Europe.
On the economic data front, weekly jobless claims came in at 202,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting 196,000.
Personal income rose 0.5%, meeting expectations, while consumer spending rose less than expected.
Core PCE prices, a key inflation measure watched by the Fed, came in at 5.4% growth year over year for February. That was just below the expectations of 5.5%.
Treasury prices were static Thursday, with yields not budging from Wednesday’s 2.34%.
Oil prices staggered $3.84 to $103.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices acquired $3.80 to $1,942.80 U.S. an ounce.