Stocks in Toronto were on the move upward Thursday to conclude a noteworthy November, led primarily by communication and financials.
The TSX Composite steadily climbed, finishing Thursday higher by 120.09 points at 20,236.29.
The benchmark Canadian index snapped a four-month losing streak, eyeing monthly gains of over 6%, as global markets made gains on hopes that major central banks were nearing the end of interest rate hikes.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.11 cents at 73.69 cents U.S.
Communications moved upward on the day, with Rogers picking $1.06, or 1.9%, to $58.48, while TELUS Corp. accumulated 48 cents, or 2%, to $24.34.
Heavyweight financials strengthened, Royal Bank of Canada jumping $3.54, or 3%, to 122.35, and CIBC jumped $2.43, or 4.6%, to $55.79, after beating quarterly profit estimates.
Utilities also moved up on the scale, with AltaGas picking up 46 cents, or 1.7%, to $27.50, while Algonquin Power & Utilities grabbed 11 cents, or 1.2%, to $8.37.
Techs weighed on the markets, however, Bitfarms shedding nine cents, or 4.4%, to $1.96, while Copperleaf Technologies dipped 38 cents, or 6%, to $5.92.
In materials, Canfor fell $1.17, or 6.8%, to $16.11, while Interfor sank $1.19, or 5.4%, to $20.79.
Iamgold gave up three cents to $3.46.
In matters economic, Statistics Canada reported real gross domestic product declined 0.3% in the third quarter, following a 0.3% increase in the second quarter. Real GDP edged up 0.1% in September on the strength of the increase in goods-producing industries.
Elsewhere, the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer increased by 22,100 (or 0.1%) in September, following a decline of 16,500 in August and little change in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 0.79 points to 536.38.
Six of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, with information technology down 0.8%, materials backpedaling 0.4%, and gold duller in price 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by communications, up 1.3%, while financials were richer 1%, and utilities. ahead 0.4%. Health-care stocks were unchanged by the close.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied Thursday to a new high for the year, as more cooling inflation data and strong Salesforce earnings capped the benchmark’s best month since October 2022.
The 30-stock index took the elevator 502.24 points, or 1.5%, higher to conclude Thursday at 35,950.84, surpassing its previous high for the year in August.
The S&P 500 recovered 17.22 points to 4,567.80.
The NASDAQ dropped 32.27 points, however, to 14,266.22.
The Dow is closing out November with an 8.9% gain, breaking its three-month losing streak. The S&P 500 is up 8.9% in November, while the NASDAQ has advanced 10.7%. Both averages had their best monthly performance since July 2022. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite were trading about 1% away from their respective 2023 highs.
Leading the Dow higher on Thursday is cloud software company Salesforce, which popped 9.4% on the back of better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fiscal third quarter. Salesforce’s cloud data business, which saw its revenue increase by 22% from the previous year, and its artificial intelligence product Einstein GPT were behind the positive report. Healthcare companies UnitedHealth Group, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Amgen also led the index higher.
Data released early Thursday showed that the personal consumption expenditures price index—the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge—rose 3.5% on a year-over-year basis, a slowing from a 3.7% annual gain in prior month.
Nvidia shed 2.9% on Thursday, but is still up 14.7% for the month. Tesla shares were off by 1.8% Thursday following a roughly 19% comeback in November. Alphabet shed 1.9% and Meta lost 1.5% during the day.
Data released early Thursday showed that the personal consumption expenditures price index—the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge—rose in line with expectations in October, gaining 0.2% for the month and 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. The numbers could provide an incentive for the Fed to hold rates steady, before lowering them in 2024.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sank, raising yields to 4.33% from Wednesday’s 4.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $2.33 to $75.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $10.70 to $2,036.40.