TSX Continues Gaining
Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday amid choppy trading, as investors assessed news of U.S.-China tariff negotiations and awaited key jobs data from both home and the United States.
The TSX Composite Index gained 41.03 points to reach noon EDT at 26,370.03.
The Canadian dollar edged 0.01 cents to 73.16 cents U.S.
Information and technology stocks fell, led by a 9% drop in Descartes after the parametric insurance specialist missed first-quarter result estimates. The stock reached noon hour at $143.88.
Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump by phone, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. It mentioned the phone talks were at Trump's request but didn't provide further details.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that in April, Canada's merchandise exports dropped 10.8%, while imports fell 3.5%.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $2.3 billion in March to $7.1 billion in April. This was the largest deficit on record.
Also, the IVEY PMI for May registered at 48.9, down from a 47.9 reading in April, and way off the 52.0 level in May 2024.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeezed 0.41 points higher to 719.84.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as gold faded 0.5%, while utilities eased 0.4%, and health-care paled 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by energy, vaulting 0.7%, while materials nosed up 0.3% and real-estate garnered 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose on Thursday after more developments between the U.S. and China on the trade front.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 112.61 points to 42,540.35.
The much-broader index regained 17.6 points to 5,988.47
The NASDAQ Composite zoomed 90.3 points to 19,550.79.
During Thursday’s session, shares of bourbon maker Brown-Forman were slated for their worst day on record.
Beijing said Thursday that President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping held a phone call, which was initiated by Trump, according to Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese embassy in the U.S.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that it was a “very good phone call” with Xi, but it was still unclear what was accomplished from the communication between the two leaders. Trump said the two countries trade teams would be meeting again “shortly.”
The U.S. and China agreed to temporarily lower tariffs in May, propelling stocks to sharp gains for the month as investors hoped the worst of the tariff turmoil was behind them. The S&P 500 rose more than 6% last month, scoring its best month since November 2023, along with the NASDAQ.
Recently, however, escalating tensions between the U.S. and China has brought volatility back into the market. Stocks got a bit of a boost following an initial report of the call.
The report of the call initially gave stocks a bit of a boost following the release of new labor market data Thursday. Jobless claims last week came in at 247,000, an increase of 8,000 from the week before and more than the Dow Jones estimate of 236,000.
This comes one day after an estimate of private sector payrolls rose by just 37,000 in May, coming in sharply below the Dow Jones forecast for 110,000 and raising investors
Prices for the 10-year Treasury floundered, hiking yields to 4.39% from Wednesday’s 4.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered 60 cents to $63.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $28.30 to $3,370.90 U.S. an ounce.
