Canadian equities moved marginally higher on Thursday thanks to a boost in commodity prices, after seasonal selling pressures sent the TSX to near four-month lows in the previous session. The mining sector led gainers while utilities led the decliners.
The S&P 500 briefly passed the 5,500 mark for the first time before settling just under that benchmark. New economic data of higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims and poor housing starts painted a picture of recent signs of a slowing economy.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.08 cents U.S. compared to 72.98 cents U.S. on Wednesday.
U.S. crude futures traded $0.77 higher at $82.34 a barrel, and the Brent contract rose $0.74 to $85.81 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$29.47 to US$2,358.96.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 62.26 points to 38,633.02, the Hang Seng was down 95.07 points to 18,335.32, the FTSE was up 67.35 points to 8,272.46 and the DAX was up 186.27 points to 18,254.18.
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(Top photo: File.)