Baystreet.ca - Equities in Toronto stayed in an upward mode by midday Thursday, following the index’s best day in months.
The TSX surged 80.64 points early Thursday afternoon to 24,869.94.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.29 cents at 69.52 cents U.S.
Orla Mining (TSX:OLA) said it produced 26,531 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter, bringing annual gold production for 2024 to 136,748 ounces. Shares in Orla lost 14 cents, or 1.7%, to $8.24.
The materials sector rose with miners MAG Silver (TSX:MAG) and Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS) leading gains. MAG gathered 96 cents, or 4.5%, to $22.44, while Pan American tacked on $1.09. or 3.6%, to $31.49.
On the economic front, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said housing starts housing starts in Canada plunged by 13.35% month-over-month to 231,500 units in December 2024, the lowest level in three months and below market expectations of 245,000 units.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked higher 0.74 points to 608.56.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher by noon. led by information technology, ahead 1.4%, utilities, better by 1.2%, and gold, shinier by 0.9%.
Only energy missed the fun, losing 1.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed Thursday as traders assessed the latest batch of earnings reports, with the S&P 500 looking to record its longest winning streak since December.
The Dow Jones Industrials surmounted the negatives of Thursday morning and came to within 3.35 points of breakeven to 43,218.20
The much-broader index inched higher 0.86 points to 5,950.37.
The NASDAQ Composite declined 69.25 points to 19,441.98.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) climbed 3% after posting a top- and bottom-line beat in the fourth quarter on strong investment banking activity and fixed income trading revenue. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) inched down 1% despite having reported an earnings and revenue beat in the prior quarter. The results come a day after other financial peers such as JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) also beat fourth-quarter estimates.
The earnings season is off to a strong start overall, with 77% of the companies that have reported thus far beating expectations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury surged, lowering yields to 4.61% from Wednesday’s 4.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $1.49 to $78.55 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold hiked $36.70 an ounce to $2,754.70 U.S.