By Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) – Canada’s resource-heavy index climbed on Thursday, aided by gains in commodity-linked stocks, while a lower-than-expected retail sales data report in the United States revived some hopes of an early interest rate cut.
At 10:33 a.m. ET (1533 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 194.64 points, or 0.93%, at 21,084.04.
Energy shares advanced 2.8%, as oil prices rebounded from earlier losses in the day. [O/R]
The materials sector, which houses Canadian miners, was up 2.4% and on track for its best day in two months as prices of gold and copper extended gains on a softer dollar. [MET/L] [GOL/]
Market sentiment was buoyed after U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in January, with the benchmark S&P 500 and Dow Jones gaining after the data. [.N]
“Today’s data are not necessarily bad news for the market. It implies that the exceptional strength we have seen on the consumer side is fading a bit and the Fed won’t have to worry that strong economic growth will reaccelerate inflation,” said Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones Investments.
Canadian housing starts fell 10% in January, while factory sales declined 0.7% in December, data from the national housing agency and Statistics Canada, respectively, showed on Thursday.
Heavy-weight financials were up 0.9%, led by a 6.5% jump in Manulife Financial after the Canadian insurer topped estimates for fourth-quarter results.
Earnings momentum in Canada was poised to pick up pace with gold miner Agnico Eagle Mines and asset manager IGM Financial, among others, set to report their quarterly results on Thursday after the bell.
Shares of gold miner Seabridge Gold climbed 15.5%, rebounding from a near four-year low.
MTY Food Group sank to the bottom of the index with a 10.9% decline after the restaurant operator reported its fourth-quarter results.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)