Canada’s main stock index moved moderately higher Thursday, while U.S. stock markets partly recovered from midday losses and finished mixed.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index advanced 35.84 points to 15,818.00, with a boost coming from the gold sector and financial stocks as base metals and energy dragged.
South of the border, Wall Street barely kept winning streaks alive for two of it main indexes.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 5.44 points to 23,163.04 and the S&P 500 index edged up 0.84 of a point to 2,562.10, both record highs.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite index gave back 19.15 points at 6,605.07.
“This morning, futures were down big. They were down 100 points or greater, so triple digit losses,” said Allan Small, a senior investment adviser at Holliswealth. “The margins have bounced back nicely.”
Overall, though, it was a “ho-hum type of day,” Small added. “It’s another one of those low-ball days we’ve been accustomed to and expect.”
In currency markets, the Canadian dollar was trading at an average price of US80.14¢, up 0.05 of a cent.
In commodities, the December crude contract was down US75¢ to US$51.51 per barrel and the November natural gas contract gave back US2¢ at US$2.87 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract gained US$7.00 to US$1,290.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down US1¢ to US$3.17 a pound.