After three losing days, Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday led by mining and energy growth while losses in the healthcare segment capped further gains on the TSX. With plenty of domestic earnings updates, traders were cautious ahead of a key U.S. inflation print. Statistics Canada reported real gross domestic product was essentially unchanged in December 2023 after two months of growth. Asian markets were down while Euro markets ended higher.
U.S. indexes were mostly unchanged as Wall Street weighed the latest earnings results and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s favoured inflation gauge. The personal consumer expenditures reading for January 2024, which came in higher than expected and could impact equities in the future.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.66 cents compared with 73.67 cents U.S. on Wednesday.
U.S. crude futures traded $0.44 lower at $78.10 a barrel, and the Brent contract lost $0.06 to $83.62 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$9.56 to US$2,044.24.
In world markets, the Nikkei was down 41.84 points to 39,166.19, the Hang Seng was down 25.41 points to 16,511.44, the FTSE was up 24.59 points to 7,649.57, and the DAX was up 105.68 points to 17,706.90.
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