TSX Ends Higher Again

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Thursday, extending gains to a third successive session, led by gains in materials stocks after gold prices rallied sharply due to a weak dollar.

Consumer discretionary, healthcare, information technology and telecommunications stocks were the other prominent gainers. Energy and financial stocks ended on a mixed note.

Positive cues from Wall Street where stocks moved higher after President Donald Trump said he had a "very good" conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade, aided sentiment in the Canadian market.

"Just had a long and very good conversation with President Xi Jinping of China. We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on Trade," Trump said on Twitter. "Those discussions are moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the G-20 in Argentina," he added.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 122.87 points, or 0.82%, at 15,150.15, the day's high. The index touched a low of 15,029.18 in the session.

On Wednesday, the index closed up by 132.78 points or 0.89 percent, at 15,027.28.

The Capped Materials Index gained almost 4%. Nutrien (NTR.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and CCL Industries Inc. (CCL.B.TO) gained 2.7 to3.%.

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) jumped 6.15%, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) gained nearly 6%, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) surged up 4.4% and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) moved up 4%. Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) soared 22.7% despite a fall in net profit in the third quarter.

The Capped Energy ended up 0.71%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) gained about 4.8% on strong third quarter results. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) moved up 3.2%. PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) gained more than 2% and Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET.TO) added 1.2%.

Husky Energy (HSE.TO) declined by about 1.4%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) ended marginally down. The company reported third-quarter operating income of $1.56 billion, an 80% increase over $867 million in the same period of 2017.

Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) plunged more than 12% after the company announced that it has signed a deal to acquire Newfield Exploration Co. in an all-stock offer, worth about US$5.5 billion. Under the deal, Newfield shareholders will receive 2.6719 Encana shares for each share of Newfield common stock. Encana will also assume US$2.2 billion of Newfield debt.

Among bank stocks, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) ended lower by about 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively. Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Nova Scotia ended around thier previous closing levels.

The Capped Healthcare Index ended 1.51% up. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (BHC.TO) jumped nearly 8%. Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) and Aphria (APH.TO) shed 1.6% and 3.5%, respectively. Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) jumped 4.3%.

The Capped Consumer Discretionary Index ended up 2.05%. Magna International Inc. (MG.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL.TO), Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (GOOS.TO) gained 1.5 to 3%.

Dollarama Inc. (DOL.TO) gained 4.2% and The Stars Group Inc. (TSGI.TO) advanced by 4.3%.

The Capped Information Technology Index gained 1.21%. Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) ended nearly 4% up and BlackBerry (BB.TO) climbed up 2.5%.

The Capped Telecommunications Index ended up 1.5%. BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) surged up nearly 5% after the company announced that its net earnings grew 2.0% to $867 million in the third quarter, over the year-ago quarter. Cogeco Communications Inc. (CCA.TO) added 1.2%.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (GWO.TO) ended marginally down after it announced net earnings attributable to common shareholders (net earnings) of $689 million or $0.697 per common share for the third quarter of 2018 compared to $581 million or $0.587 per common share for the same quarter last year.

Norbord Inc. (OSB.TO) climbed up 7.8% after it reported adjusted EBITDA of $211 million for the third quarter of 2018 versus $200 million in the third quarter of 2017 and $273 million in the second quarter of 2018.

The U.S. market ended on a buoyant note on optimism about U.S.-China trade talks. The Dow and the S&P 500 both gained 1.1%, while the Nasdaq ended up 1.8%.

European markets ended mixed, amid cautious moves by investors. The U.K. and the European Union have reportedly reached a tentative deal that would grant U.K. companies continued access to European markets after Brexit.

Bank of England policymakers unanimously decided to maintain the monetary policy stance at a meeting but signaled faster rate hikes than current market expectations over Brexit uncertainties.

In U.K., the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a 27-month low of 51.1 in October from revised 53.6 in September. The score was forecast to drop moderately to 53.0.

UK house prices rose at the slowest pace in nearly five-and-a-half years in October, figures from the Nationwide Building Society showed on Thursday. The house price index rose 1.6% year-on-year following a 2 percent increase in September. Economists had forecast a 1.90% gain. The latest increase was the slowest since May 2013, Nationwide said.

In U.S. economic news, a report from the Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 214,000 last week, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 216,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department said labor productivity climbed by 2.2% in the third quarter after jumping by 3% in the second quarter. Unit labor costs surged up by 1.2% in the third quarter after slumping by 1% in the second quarter.

The Institute for Supply Management report said its Purchasing Managers Index dropped to 57.7 in October from 59.8 in September.

In commodities, crude oil futures for December ended down $1.62, or 2.5%, at 63.69 a barrel, the lowest settlement in nearly seven months.

Gold futures for December ended up $21.30, or about 1.8%, at $1,236.30 an ounce, the highest settlement since July 16.

Silver futures for December were rising $0.495, at $14.777 an ounce, a few minutes ahead of close, while Copper futures for December were up $0.0625, at $2.7215 per pound.