Canadian Stocks Are Up Slightly On Bank Strength -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is trading slightly to the upside Thursday morning. The market is trading around its highest level in 19 months. Financial stocks are leading the way higher this morning, helping to offset weakness among gold and energy stocks.

Markets in Europe are trading in the green Thursday. The European Central Bank surprised markets on Thursday when it announced that bond purchases will be extended till the end of next year, which is longer-than-expected, but its pace will ease after March. The central bank left its key interest rates unchanged.

Markets in the United States are holding near the flat line Thursday morning. Economic data has been on the light side today. Weekly jobless claims pulled back in the week ended December 3rd after reaching a five-month high in the previous week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 10.14 points or 0.07 percent at 15,247.89.

On Wednesday, the index closed up 111.95 points or 0.74 percent, at 15,237.75. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,249.24 and a low of 15,124.24.

The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.61 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is climbing 0.79 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is rising 0.46 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is gaining 0.73 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is higher by 1.19 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is advancing 1.95 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is adding 0.63 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is falling 0.68 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is declining 2.78 percent and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is down 0.78 percent.

The Capped Healthcare Index is lower by 0.51 percent. Concordia International (CXR.TO) is falling 5.89 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is down 0.33 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is losing 0.54 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is dipping 0.02 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is weakening by 0.33 percent.

Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is decreasing 0.53 percent. The company has finalized a deal with Philippines Airlines for 12 Q400 planes.

The Gold Index is declining 0.40 percent. Gold prices are down slightly Thursday morning as the European Central Bank said it will extend QE but taper asset purchases.

Goldcorp (G.TO) is down 0.62 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is dipping 0.05 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is weakening by 0.25 percent and Kinross Gold (K.TO) is losing 0.89 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is lower by 0.97 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is decreasing 1.23 percent. B2Gold (BTO.TO) is also falling 0.59 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 0.36 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is decreasing 1.27 percent and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is losing 0.12 percent.

The Energy Index is down 0.26 percent. Crude oil prices have bounced back above $50 a barrel Thursday morning after a surprising draw down in U.S. oil inventories yesterday.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is higher by 0.33 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is declining 1.41 percent. Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is dipping 0.19 percent and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is falling 1.21 percent. Enbridge (ENB.TO) is slipping 0.05 percent.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is decreasing 0.68 percent. The company announced that it plans to invest between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion in 2017, a 24% increase compared with the forecast capital spending for 2016.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is dropping 0.17 percent. TELUS (T.TO) is falling 0.12 percent and BCE (BCE.TO) is down 0.25 percent. Premium Brands Holdings (PBH.TO) has acquired Diana's Seafood. The stock is now up 0.05 percent.

Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc.(BRE.TO) has acquired franchise agreements representing 43 real estate operations and 569 realtors across Canada for approximately $8.2 million. Shares are currently unchanged.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada this morning showed that Canadian building permits surged 8.7 percent in October. Economists had been expecting a decrease of 0.7 percent.

A separate report from Statistics Canada showed that the Canadian new housing price index increased 0.4 percent in October. Economists had been expecting a gain of 0.2 percent.

China's exports grew unexpectedly in November as a weaker yuan underpinned foreign demand, while imports logged a notable gain on domestic orders.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that exports edged up 0.1 percent from a year ago in dollar terms, confounding expectations for a decline of 5 percent.

At the same time, imports advanced 6.7 percent in November in contrast to the expected fall of 1.9 percent. As a result, the trade surplus came in at $44.6 billion versus a $46.9 billion expected surplus.

After reporting first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits at a five-month high in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims pulled back in the week ended December 3rd.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 258,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 268,000. The drop in jobless claims matched economist estimates.

In commodities, crude oil futures for December delivery are up 0.53 or 1.06 percent at $50.30 a barrel.

Natural gas for December is up 0.042 or 1.17 percent at $3.645 per million btu.

Gold futures for December are down $5.50 or 0.47 percent at $1,172.00 an ounce.

Silver for December is down $0.23 or 1.33 percent at $17.035 an ounce.