Canada’s main index opened higher on Thursday, driven by materials and technology stocks, while investors looked forward to another day of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony.
The TSX Composite zoomed 150.12 points to 21,744.08.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.13 cents at 74.13 cents U.S.
Four brokerages raised price targets on software company Descartes Systems after its fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates. Descartes shares jumped $3.24, or 2.8%, to $121.14.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that in January, Canada’s merchandise imports decreased 3.8%, while exports fell 1.7%. As a result, Canada’s merchandise trade balance changed position for a second consecutive month, moving from a deficit of $863 million in December to a surplus of $496 million in January.
Also, January building permits increased 13.5% from December to $10.8 billion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 4.19 points to 579.10.
All but two of the 12 subgroups gained in the first hour, with materials up 1.6%, gold brighter 1.4%, and information technology clicking 1% higher
The lone laggard was in communications, down 0.2%, while health-care concerns were unchanged in price.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Thursday, as hope over easing inflation and gains in tech helped Wall Street claw back more of this week’s losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials hurtled higher 149.72 points to kick off Thursday to 38,810.72.
The S&P 500 gained 39.1 points to 5,143.92.
The NASDAQ hiked 162.89 points, or 1%, to 16,184,43.
Investor optimism was boosted after the European Central Bank lowered forecasts for annual inflation and growth on Thursday, though the bank also held key interest rates steady. That can be taken as a positive signal on the international inflation front.
The ECB’s announcement comes after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Wednesday that he expects interest rates to come down this year, while noting that the U.S. central bank was not immediately ready to begin cutting. Powell will speak before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, the second of his two Capitol Hill appearances this week.
In corporate news, Victoria’s Secret plunged 28% after posting mixed quarterly results and issuing disappointing guidance. On the other hand, U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk popped almost 9% on the back of positive trial results for an obesity treatment.
Shares of New York Community Bancorp rose 14% in volatile trading Thursday morning. The stock tumbled more than 40% during Wednesday’s session, but went on to finish with a 7.5% gain after announcing a $1 billion capital raise.
Investors are also awaiting Friday’s U.S. jobs report for insights into the state of the labor market, which has shown resilience despite higher interest rates.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury bounced, lowering yields to 4.10% from Wednesday’s 4.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices stumbled 71 cents to $78.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $4.10 to $2,162.30.
