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Energy stocks led Canada’s main stock index higher at open on Thursday, as investors took stock of U.S.-Japan trade negotiations, although sentiment remained fragile amid tariff uncertainties.
The TSX Composite Index gained 107.72 points to begin the last day of a short week at 24,214.51.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents to 72.13 cents U.S.
Speaking to reporters after the talks on Wednesday, Japanese representative Ryosei Akazawa gave few details but said the parties had agreed to hold a second meeting later this month and that Trump had said getting a deal with Japan was a “top priority”.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported Canadian investors acquired $27.2 billion of foreign securities in February, led by a record investment in U.S. equity securities, which more than offset the significant divestment in these instruments in January.
Meanwhile, foreign investors reduced their exposure to Canadian securities by $6.5 billion.
Markets throughout North America are closed Friday for Good Friday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 0.83 points to 638.04
All but two of the 12 subgroups were higher in the first hour of trade Thursday, led by energy, up 1.7%, utilities, better by 1.3%, and telecoms, increasing 1.1%.
The two laggards proved to be gold, down 0.8%, and materials, weakening 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 advanced on Thursday, the last trading day of the week, as traders tried to recover some of the steep losses suffered in the previous session. However, a massive drop in UnitedHealth sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply lower.
The 30-stock index crumbled 528.83 points, or 1.3%, to kick off Thursday at 39,140.56, driven by a 19% decline in UnitedHealth following an earnings miss.
The S&P 500 forged up 8.92 points to 5,284.62
The NASDAQ Composite slid 13.73 points to 16,291.34.
Eli Lilly, on the other hand, jumped more than 15% after delivering positive trial results for a weight-loss pill. U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor popped around 2% on a strong quarterly financial report.
Those moves come after a sharp decline on Wednesday, led by tech names, that sent the Dow down nearly 700 points and the NASDAQ cratering more than 3%.
The major averages were headed for a losing week, which concludes with Thursday’s close as the market is dark for Good Friday. The Dow and NASDAQ have each lost more than 2% week to date, while the S&P 500 has shed more than 1%.
Chipmaking giant Nvidia retreated 1.5% on Thursday, building on its drop of nearly 7% in the previous session. The artificial intelligence darling disclosed a quarterly charge of about $5.5 billion tied to exporting its H20 graphics processing units, or GPUs, to China and other destinations due to U.S. export controls.
Stocks also took a hit on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Trump’s levies could drive up inflation in the near term and are “likely to move us further away from our goals.” Powell said the central bank may find itself in a “challenging scenario” in which its dual-mandate goals — to achieve maximum employment and stable prices — are in tension.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were up Wednesday, easing yields to 4.30% from Wednesday’s 4.28%. Treasury prices and yields in opposite directions.
Oil prices squeezed up 95 cents to $63.42U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold cooled off $22.30 to $3,324.10 U.S.
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