Stocks across North America came out of the gulch they’d occupied this week, growing Thursday by leaps and bounds, led by health issues.
The TSX Composite Index climbed 344.66 points, or 1.6%, to 22,225.61.
The Canadian dollar inched upward 0.13 cents at 72.83 cents U.S.
Among stocks, Manulife Financial reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, powered by a 40% rise in earnings from Asia. Shares in the insurer rose 82 cents, or 2.5%, to $34.01.
Restaurant Brands International beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue, as its Tim Hortons and Burger King outlets enjoyed steady demand. Restaurant Brands gained $1.85, or 1.9%, to $98.82.
Canadian Tire Corporation shot higher by $10.68, or 7.7%, to $148.71 after its second-quarter earnings beat.
Pan American Silver fell $1.26, or 4.7% to the bottom of the TSX at $25.50, after it missed profit estimates for the second quarter.
In health-care stocks, Tilray took on 12 cents, or 5%, to $2.53, while Bausch Health Companies traveled 32 cents higher, or 4.4%, to $7.52.
In tech stocks, Bitfarms sprang up 57 cents, or 21.9%, to $3.17, while Docebo leaped $7.15, or 14.3%, to $57.17.
Gold stocks were brighter, led by Kinross Gold, better by 41 cents, or 3.6%, to $11.58, while Oceanagold took on 28 cents,, or 9.3%, to $3.28.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 7.86 points, or 1.5%. to 541.59.
All 12 TSX subgroups were higher by the close, led by health-care, jumping 3.7%, information technology, skyrocketing 2.9%, and gold, stronger 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved skyward Thursday after new labour market data boosted investors’ confidence in the U.S. economy following a sharp market selloff early in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial index popped 683.04 points, or 1.8%, to 39,446.49.
The S&P 500 index recovered 119.81 points, or 2.3%, to 5,319.31.
The NASDAQ surged 464.21 points, or 2.9%, to 16,660.02.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly surged around 9% after posting better-than-expected earnings and raising its full-year outlook on strong demand for diabetes treatment Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound. The momentum names which suffered the most Monday bounced back Thursday. Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom both jumped by more than 6%. Meta Platforms climbed 3.5%, and Apple ticked up 1.4%.
The major averages are still lower week to date but have recovered much of their losses from Monday’s rout. The S&P 500 is down 0.5% for the week, while the Dow and NASDAQ are lower by around 0.6% each.
The latest weekly jobless claims came in below forecasts, helping to allay some recent concerns on the strength of the labour market. First-time filings for jobless benefits came in at 233,000 last week, down 17,000 from the previous week and lower than the Dow Jones estimate for 240,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury backed off, yields hiking to 3.99% from Wednesday’s 3.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices prospered 87 cents at $76.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $30.60 to $2,459.40.