Canadian Stocks End On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended notably higher on Thursday, extending previous session's gains, with investors indulging in some strong buying in technology, mining, financial and healthcare sectors.

Energy stocks saw some brisk buying early on in the session, but pared some gains after crude oil came off higher levels on demand worries.

Concerns about any impact of Saudi Arabia-Canada spat on human rights issue on Canada's economy subsided after Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih reassured that the spat will not impact oil supplies to Canada.

Data released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. showed that housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted rate of 206,314 units in July. Meanwhile, a report from Statistics Canada showed that the new housing price index increased by 0.1% in June.

The benchmark S&P/TSX ended up 101.90 points or 0.62% at 16,416.98, after scaling a low of 16,326.87 and a high of 16,430.85 intraday.

The Capped Financial Index gained nearly 1%. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal (BMO) and National Bank of Canada moved up 0.5 to 1%. Bank of Montreal ended modestly higher.

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC/TO) climbed up 3.3% after second quarter results beat market expectations. Manulife announced after trading hours on Wednesday that it posted net income attributed to shareholders of $1,262 million for the second quarter of 2018, compared with $1,255 million a year ago.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) reported second quarter net income of $706 million, as compared to $574 in the year-ago quarter. The stock ended up 0.4%.

The Capped Healthcare Index ended up 1.34%. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) gained 4% after it announced the acquisition of all remaining outstanding shares of its Chilean in-market entity, Spectrum Cannabis Chile SpA.

Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) gained nearly 5%. Sienna Senior Living Inc. (SIA.TO) gained 3.75% after reporting a near 18% jump in second quarter revenue. Extendicare (EXE.TO) ended 1.8% up.

The Capped Information Technology Index ended 1.3% up. Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO) gained 3%, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) added 2.85%, BlackBerry (BB.TO) ended 1.8% up, Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) gained 2.4%.

In the materials space, Nutrien (NTR.TO) gained 2.75%, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV) both ended higher steady gold prices.

In economic news from U.S., first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended August 4th. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 213,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed producer prices unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of July. The Labor Department said its producer price index was unchanged in July after rising by 0.3 percent in June. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.2 percent.

Wholesale inventories in the U.S. saw a slight increase in the month of June, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in June after rising by 0.3 percent in May. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to come in unchanged.

In economic news from Asia, China's inflation accelerated on higher food and non-food prices, but remained well within the government's target and producer price inflation slowed in July, giving space for monetary policy adjustment.

Consumer price inflation rose to 2.1% in July from 1.9% in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

In commodities, crude oil futures for September delivery was down 0.23 or 0.34% at $66.71 a barrel.

Natural gas for September is down 0.003 or 0.10% at $2.946 million btu.

Gold futures for December are down $1 or 0.08% at $1,220 an ounce.

Silver for September is down 0.028 or 0.18% at $15.460 an ounce.