TSX Climbs by Noon

Canada's main stock index edged higher midday Thursday, boosted by consumer discretionary stocks following Dollarama's upbeat sales forecast, while investors awaited more clues on the timing of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the United States.

The TSX Composite progressed 100.86 points to work its way into noon hour EDT Thursday at 22,213.32.

The Canadian dollar increased in price 0.18 cents at 74.12 cents U.S.

Consumer discretionary shares jumped, pulled up by discount store operator Dollarama that gained $6.45, or 6.5%, to $106.83, after it forecast annual and quarterly sales above estimates on Thursday.

Bombardier rose 3.6% after brokerage RBC assumed coverage with an "outperform" rating. Bombardier shares galloped $2.69, or 4.8%, to $58.59.

On the economic front, In February, exports increased 5.8%, while imports rose 4.6%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world widened from $608 million in January to $1.4 billion in February.

Elsewhere, vehicle sales across Canada increased 9.2% in March from a year earlier, according to the latest data from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. In all, 159,000 motor vehicles were sold throughout the country in March.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back 0.56 points to pause for noon at 584.32.

All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with consumer discretionary stocks soaring 1.6%, health-care haler by 1%, and financials richer 0.9%.

The three laggards were gold, sliding 0.8%, while materials dropped 0.4%, and energy handed back 0.2%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks rose on Thursday as investors attempted a recovery after this week’s consecutive down days for the Dow Jones Industrials

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The 30-stock index jumped 172.46 points to 39,299.58.

The S&P 500 prospered 34.96 points to 5,246.45.

The NASDAQ rocketed 140.44 points to 16,417.90.

Megacap technology stocks bounced back on Thursday, with Nvidia shares adding 1.5% and Meta gaining more than 2.5%. Shares of Microsoft advanced 1.3%. Levi Strauss & Co shares popped more than 16% after the retailer topped first-quarter expectations.

According to data released Thursday, initial jobless claims increased more than expected last week, hitting their highest level since late January. Additional data posted by the Commerce Department reflected an increased in the trade deficit to $68.9 billion in February, slightly higher than the Dow Jones estimate.

Investors are now awaiting Friday for the release of March’s non-farm payrolls.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields back to Wednesday’s 4.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices subsided 26 cents at $85.17 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gave up $1.80 to $2,313.20 U.S. an ounce.