Canadian stocks snapped a four-day losing streak to end modestly higher Thursday, as gold issues strengthened with prices rebounding strongly to help lift market sentiments. Investors largely ignored the still persistent eurozone concerns and shrugged off some soft economic data from the U.S.
Toronto's main index, the S&P/TSX, closed Thursday at 11,330.68, up 4.60 points or 0.04 percent. The S&P/TSX Composite Index touched an intraday high of 11,421.83 and a low of 11,317.11.
The TSX had lost over 400 points or nearly 4 percent in the past four sessions.
The TSX Venture Index closed at 1,228.07, up 10.33 points or 0.85 percent. The index opened at 1,221.23 compared to its previous close of 1,217.74.
The gains of the S&P/TSX Index were led by the Global Gold Index that jumped over 6 percent and the Materials Index which advanced over 3.5 percent.
The Global Gold Index jumped over 6 percent, with gold prices moving higher Thursday on bargain hunting after prices fell to a 10-month low in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the World Gold Council revealed that demand for gold eased 5 percent to 1,097.60 tons in the first quarter of 2012 on an year-over-year basis as reduced demand from the jewelry, technology and official sectors more than offset growth in gold investment demand, the council pointed out.
Gold futures for June delivery shed $38.30 or 2.5 percent to close at $1,574.90 an ounce Thursday on the NYMEX. The Global Gold Index surged 5.62 percent.
Gold stocks were led by Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) that surged 6.20 percent, B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) jumped 9.19 percent, Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) was up 5.48 percent, and Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) soared 6.80 percent. Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) moved up an impressive 6.78 percent.
The Materials Index gained 3.65 percent with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) down 0.50 and Mercator Minerals Ltd. (ML.TO) down 6.35 percent.
The Metals & Mining Index shed 1.15 percent with Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) down 2.09 percent, while Osisko Mining Corporation (OSK.TO) gained 4.06 percent. Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) was up 0.37 percent., while First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) dropped 2.87 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures dropped to settle at a six-month low Thursday, with futures for June dropping $0.25 or 0.3 percent to close at $92.56 a barrel on the NYMEX.
The Energy Index edged up 0.11 percent with Suncor Energy (SU.TO) edging up 0.29 percent and Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) gaining 1.47 percent. Bankers Petroleum Ltd. (BNK.TO) lost 1.69 percent, while Encana Corp (ECA.TO) shed 1.19 percent. Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) gained 1.0 percent.
The Financial Index slipped 1.59 percent with Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC.TO) slipped 0.62 percent and Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) was down 2.78 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) dropped 2.02 percent, while Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) slipped 1.62 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) edged down 1.52 percent.
Heavyweights transportation systems maker Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) was down 0.27 percent, while smartphone maker Research In Motion Limited (RIM) gained 3.94 percent.
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO) gained 0.86 percent. The company announced the resignation of Fred Green as president and chief executive, effective immediately.
Meanwhile, Sears Canada Inc. (SCC.TO) plunged nearly 13 percent after Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) announced plans to spin off a minority stake in Sears Canada Inc.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales rose 0.4 percent in March to $48.7 billion as three of the seven sub-sectors reported improved sales. In the last 12 months, Canadian wholesalers posted nine monthly increases, which translated into a growth rate of 6.0 percent relative to March 2011. In volume terms, wholesale sales were unchanged in March.
Separately, the agency said foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities for the second time in three months by divesting $2.1 billion in March. On the other hand, Canadian investors acquired the largest amount of foreign securities in nearly five years at $7.8 billion, with investment concentrated in equities.
From south of the border, the U.S. Labor Department's new unemployment claims were at a seasonally adjusted level of 370,000 for the week ended May 12, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Economists expected jobless claims to edge down to 365,000 from the 367,000 originally reported for the previous week.
After rising for six consecutive months, the Conference Board's leading economic index unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in the month of April. The leading economic index edged down by 0.1 percent in April following a 0.3 percent increase in March. Economists expected the index to inch up by 0.1 percent.
Activity in the Philadelphia-area manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in the month of May, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said. The index of activity in the sector turned negative for the first time in eight months.
The Philly Fed diffusion index of current activity tumbled to a negative 5.8 in May from a positive 8.5 in April. A negative reading indicates contraction in regional manufacturing activity. Economists expected the index to climb to a reading of 10.0.
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