Canada’s main stock index opened higher on Thursday driven by rate-sensitive technology stocks after data showed key U.S. inflation numbers came in line with expectations, that bolstered bets of a pause in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.
The TSX strengthened 85.24 points to begin the Thursday session at 20,415.56.
The Canadian dollar acquired 0.05 cents to 73.92 cents U.S.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce missed analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit, hurt by higher loan-loss provisions. Shares in CIBC tumbled $1.82, or 3.3%, to $53.50.
Shopify said Amazon would release an app in Shopify’s app ecosystem that would give U.S.-based merchants access to Amazon’s “Buy with Prime” option.
Shares of the e-commerce firm gained $6.72, or 8.3%, to $87.93.
From Statistics Canada, the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as “payroll employees” in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 47,700 (+0.3%) in June.
The agency also says job vacancies remained on a downward trend, edging down by 8,900 (-1.2%) to 753,400 in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.15 points to 586.22.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were in positive territory in Thursday’s first hour, with information technology vaulting 2.1%, health-care issues bouncing 1.2%, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.8%.
The four laggards were weighed most by industrials and gold, each down 0.2%, and consumer staples, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Thursday, the last day of the month, as Wall Street tried to stretch a late-August winning streak to five sessions.
The 30-stock index zoomed 95.44 points to 34,985.68.
The S&P 500 index forged ahead 14.86 points to 4,529.73.
The NASDAQ index soared 80.32 points to 14,099.64.
The Dow got a boost from Salesforce. Shares advanced more than 5% after the software company announced fiscal second-quarter results and third-quarter guidance Wednesday that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Investors are coming off a positive session, with the S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ notching a four-day winning streak. Those gains helped the major indexes trim their monthly losses. All three benchmarks are down more than 1% Traders on Thursday also pored over new U.S. inflation data. The core personal consumption expenditures index increased 0.2% month-over-month in July and 4.2% year over year, matching estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. The core PCE is a closely watched inflation indicator by the Federal Reserve.
Investors will now turn their attention to non-farm payroll data due out Friday morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast 170,000 additions. Traders are holding onto hope that the report will indicate that the economy is slowing meaningfully, and ultimately give the central bank reason to pause benchmark interest rate hikes.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 4.10% from Wednesday’s 4.12%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved up $1.31 to $82.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $1.20 to $1,971.80 U.S. an ounce.