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TSX Barely Budges, Tracking Progress of Global Equities
Canada's main stock index were flat to begin trading on Thursday, tracking global equities higher, as countries making tentative moves to reopen parts of their economies helped sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched higher 0.2 points to open Thursday at 13,958.78
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.12 to 70.95 cents U.S.
One of Magna International’s top executives says the car parts maker is planning for a return to production in North America on May 4, with a subsequent gradual increase in output as the industry recovers from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Magna shares dropped 39 cents in price to $48.66.
A U.S. court on Wednesday ruled against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' use of a permit that allows new energy pipelines to cross water bodies, in the latest setback to TC Energy's plans to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
TC shares slid $1.19, or 1.8%, to $63.75.
Scotiabank raised the rating on Alacer Gold to outperform from sector perform. Alacer shares advanced 14 cents, or 2.2%, to $6.42.
RBC cut the rating on Cascades Inc. to sector perform from outperform. Cascades stock fell 41 cents, or 3%, to $13.39.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Thomson Reuters to sector perform from outperform. Thomson shares ditched 26 cents to $98.77.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada informed us that February manufacturing sales increased 0.5% to $56.2 billion in February, following five consecutive monthly decreases. The growth was mainly due to higher sales in the transportation equipment industry.
Sales increased in 11 of 21 industries, representing 58.4% of total Canadian manufacturing.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.09 points to 445.80
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as information technology climbed 1.7%, gold, up 1.5%, and materials, better by 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, down 1.3%, health-care, settling 1.1%, and real-estate, off 0.8%.
Read: This is Why CBD Sales Have Exploded Higher in Recent Weeks
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply on Thursday while investors digested more data reflecting the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic.
The 30-stock index lost 227.82 points, or 1%, to 23,276.53.
The S&P 500 sank 9.36 to 2,774.
The NASDAQ Composite moved forward, however, 36.45 points to 8,429.63.
Prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury moved ahead, lowering yields to 0.60% from Wednesday’s 0.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The U.S. Labor Department reported 5.245 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week of April 11. Last week’s claims total brought the number of job losses to 22 million during the coronavirus outbreak.
Despite the recent dismal economic data, some market strategists pointed to a slowdown in the daily number of new U.S. coronavirus cases and the flattening in the net number of hospitalizations in New York State as evidence that markets may trend upward in the coming weeks.
Eager to restart significant portions of U.S. commerce, President Donald Trump again advocated for a gradual reopening of the economy during a press conference Wednesday evening.
The president said that there are also public health costs the result of keeping state economies closed. Lost income and benefit coverage, the president said, can also lead to significant and negative health outcomes.
Oil prices recovered 30 cents to $27.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up $9.90 to $1,750.10 U.S. an ounce.
