TSX Ends Higher On Upbeat Data; Syria Worries Ease - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended higher for a second straight session Thursday, tracking rising global equity markets on some encouraging macroeconomic data out of the U.S. with initial jobless claims at a six-year low and the U.S. economy growing at a much faster rate than previously estimated in the second quarter. Financial stocks turned in a strong performance amid some upbeat earnings reports from Canadian lenders.

Meanwhile, concerns of military intervention in Syria by the West eased after the U.S. and U.K. ruled out any immediate action, after the U.N. Security Council's permanent members failed to agree on any military action against Syria.

In some positive economic news, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits revealed a modest decline in the week ended August 24, a Labor Department report showed on Thursday. Meanwhile, a Commerce Department report indicated the U.S. economy to have grown faster than initially estimated in the second quarter.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Wednesday at 12,704.73, up 97.51 points or 0.77 percent. The index touched an intraday high of 12,742.71 and a low of 12,607.22.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index dropped 1.17 percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) down 2.82 percent, Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) up 2.88 percent, and Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) down 0.59 percent. Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) surrendered 0.44 percent.

The Capped Materials Index moved up 0.51 percent, with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT.TO) up 0.10 percent.

The Global Gold Index gained 1.20 percent, with gold futures for December delivery dropping $5.90 or 0.4 percent to close at $1,412.90 an ounce Thursday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) moved up 0.87 percent, while Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) added 2.54 percent. B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) jumped 4.64 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) added 1.87 percent. IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO) added 0.31 percent, while Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) added 2.12 percent.

Crude oil ended lower Thursday, after concerns over military intervention against Syria eased with both the U.S. and U.K. backing down from any immediate military action.

The Energy Index dropped 0.42 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for October delivery down $1.30 or 1.2 percent to close at $108.80 a barrel Thursday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) slipped 0.55 percent, Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) shed 0.88 percent, and Suncor Energy Inc.(SU.TO) dropped 1.01 percent.

The Financial Index gained 1.35 percent with Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) up 1.16 percent, Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) up 1.04 percent, and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) up 0.90 percent. Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC.TO) added 0.70 percent, while National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) gathered.39 percent.

Royal Bank (RY.TO) gained 1.16 percent after reporting a third-quarter profit of C$2.30 billion or C$1.52 per share compared with C$2.24 billion or C$1.47 per share a year before. Excluding one-time items, net income amounted to C$2.21 billion or C$1.46 per share in the quarter. Analysts expected earnings of C$1.38 per share for the quarter.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) gained 2.67 percent despite reporting a lower third-quarter net income of C$1.53 billion or C$1.58 per share compared to last year's C$1.70 billion or C$1.78 per share. On an adjusted basis, earnings were C$1.59 billion or C$1.65 per share for the recent quarter. Analysts expected earnings of C$1.55 per share for the quarter.

The Information Technology Index gained 0.70 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) down 0.46 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index gathered 0.65 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.A.TO, BBD.B.TO) adding 0.46 percent.

Bombardier Transportation, a unit of Bombardier Inc. (BBD.A.TO, BBD.B.TO), revealed a Deutsche Bahn AG order for 18 electric double-deck multiple units for regional transport in Germany. The order is valued at approximately $289 million.

In economic news Statistics Canada said the nation's current account deficit, on a seasonally adjusted basis, grew to $1.1 billion to $14.6 billion in the second quarter, largely led by a higher deficit on trade in goods.

In a separate report the agency said the Industrial Product Price Index rose 0.3 percent in July, mainly due to higher prices for petroleum and coal products as well as motor vehicles and other transport equipment. Meanwhile, the Raw Materials Price Index increased 4.2 percent as a result of higher prices for crude oil.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 331,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 337,000. The modest drop came roughly in line with the expectations of economists, who expected jobless claims to dip to 330,000 from the 336,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Separately, the Commerce Department said GDP increased by 2.5 percent in the second quarter, reflecting an upward revision from the advance estimate of 1.7 percent growth. Economists had been anticipating a somewhat more modest upward revision to the pace of GDP growth to about 2.2 percent

From the eurozone, Germany's unemployment increased by 7,000 in August from the previous month, the Federal Labor Agency reportedly said. Economists had forecast unemployment to fall by 5,000. The jobless rate remained unchanged at seasonally adjusted 6.8 percent. The rate came in line with economists' expectations.

According to the figures released by Destatis, the number of unemployed decreased by 40,000 in July from the prior month to 2.28 million. At the same time, the jobless rate dropped slightly to adjusted 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent in June.