Positive signs hoist investments
Market buoyed by commodity prices and new economic data
Canada’s benchmark stock index rose for the third straight day in this shortened trading week on Thursday, as commodity prices advanced and a number of positive economic reports buoyed investor sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 30.02 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 12,731.28. Six of its 10 sub-indexes advanced, led by health care, up 1.65 per cent, and technology, up 1.31 per cent.
After falling earlier in the day, the price of crude oil closed at $107.83 US a barrel, a gain of $1.55, while gold gained $9.60 to close at $1,779.60 US an ounce.
The Canadian dollar rallied with the commodity price gains, after slipping below parity with its U.S. counterpart the previous day. It gained 28 basis points to close at $1.0024 US. Initial jobless claims for the previous week in the U.S., which came in lower than expected, also helped the loonie advance.
Canada’s junior Venture exchange rose 9.18 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 1,694.13.
Economic data that helped lift markets on Thursday included reports showing gains in German business confidence and in industrial orders in the U.K. In the U.S., initial jobless claims for the previous week came in lower than expected, and there were also signs of life in the country’s beleaguered housing market.
“The second best measure of U.S. home prices bounced higher than expected in December,” Scotia Capital economists Derek Holt and Dov Zigler wrote in an afternoon note. “The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s measure isn’t as useful but it rose by more than expected (0.7 per cent m/m versus consensus 0.1 per cent).
“Some of this was due to a lower-thanexpected base effect as the prior month’s gain was revised lower from one per cent to 0.7 per cent, but that’s quibbling. The main point is that this measure of house price changes has posted the strongest two back-to-back gains since 2005.”
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.02 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 12,984.69, and the Nasdaq gained 23.81 points, or 0.81 per cent, to close at 2,956.98.