TSX Settles Higher As Commodities Rise -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks snapped a two-day loss to end higher on Thursday, after energy and mining stocks rallied with rising commodity prices. Energy stocks were among the best performers with crude oil prices surging, supported by mining, finance, and gold stocks.

European markets ended largely in the red, due to some disappointing economic data. Several purchasing manager surveys showed signs of an unexpected slowdown in April, reflecting weaker rates of expansion in France and Germany. U.K. retail sales also posted a surprise fall last month, dragged down by a sharp fall in sales at petrol stations.

Greece also remains in focus ahead of tomorrow's crucial meeting of Eurozone officials in Latvia.

Markets in the United States ended in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending the session at a new record closing high. The major averages gave back ground going into the close but managed to remain in positive territory. The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies. Earlier, markets came under a pressure due to weaker than expected earnings reports from companies like 3M and General Motors.

In some weak economic news from the U.S., first-time claims for unemployment benefits increased unexpectedly last week. Meanwhile, new home sales pulled back much more than expected in March, after reporting a notable increase in the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Thursday at 15,392.35, up 87.58 points or 0.57 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,425.81 and a low of 15,266.85.

On Wednesday, the index closed down 41.67 points or 0.27 percent, at 15,304.77. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,341.92 and a low of 15,215.87.

Gold futures rebounded to end higher on Thursday, after dropping to its lowest In April, as the dollar trended lower against a basket of major currencies on some weak new home sales and unemployment benefit claims data from the U.S.

The Gold Index gained 1.87 percent, with gold for June delivery adding $7.40 or 0.6 percent to settle at $1,194.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Among gold stocks, IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO) gained 1.94 percent, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM.TO) jumped 4.30 percent, Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) moved up 0.36 percent, and Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) gathered 1.39 percent.

Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) gained 2.77 percent, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) gathered 1.70 percent, and Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) advanced 1.37 percent.

Crude oil surged to end sharply higher amid renewed violence in Yemen where a proxy fight between Iran and Saudi Arabia threatens to destabilize the region. Prices also were supported by a weak dollar after some soft economic data from the U.S.

The Energy Index gained 0.90 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, jumping $1.58 or 2.8 percent, to settle at $57.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Among energy stocks, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.TO) added 4.84 percent, Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. (LEG.TO) jumped 5.72 percent, Bonterra Energy (BNE.TO) shed 0.53 percent, Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO) gathered 2.70 percent, and Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO) moved up 1.48 percent.

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) slipped 0.12 percent, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) moved up 0.91 percent, Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) gained 0.41 percent, and Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) gathered 2.27 percent.

The Capped Materials Index gained 2.02 percent, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) added 3.2 percent and Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) moved up 0.81 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index jumped 2.84 percent, after First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) gained 3.12 percent, Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) jumped 4.26 percent, and Capstone Mining Corp. (CS.TO) moved up 3.13 percent.

Denison Mines Corp. (DML.TO) added 2.63 percent, Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) surged 4.79 percent, and HudBay Minerals Inc. (HBM.TO) soared 6.08 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index advanced 0.54 percent, as all major banks posted gains for the day. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) added 0.41 percent, while Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) moved up 0.30 percent.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) gained 0.21 percent, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) added 0.58 percent, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) advanced 0.27 percent, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) gathered 1.08 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index dived 0.73 percent as Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) shed 0.56 percent and Concordia Healthcare Corp. (CXR.TO) dropped 2.05 percent. Extendicare (EXE.TO) moved up 0.64 percent, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) added 0.43 percent

The Capped Industrials Index added 0.29 percent, as Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) added 1.18 percent, Air Canada inched up 0.08 percent, and Finning International Inc. (FTT.TO) gathered 1.24 percent.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC.TO) gained 1.54 percent, Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO) advanced 0.48 percent, and Canadian National Railway Company (CNR.TO) slipped 0.10 percent.

The Information Technology Index moved up 0.42 percent, as BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) gained 3.05 percent, Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO) added 0.11 percent, and Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) fell 0.87 percent. Sierra Wireless, Inc. (SW.TO) added 1.21 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Index added 0.67 percent, as Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) gained 0.77 percent, BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) gathered 0.39 percent, and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MBT.TO) gained 1.28 percent.

Toromont Industries Ltd. (TIH.TO) fell 1.00 percent, having reported a first quarter profit of C$0.26 a share, up from C$0.24 a share last year.

Ridley Inc. (RCL.TO) surged 19.18 percent, after agreeing to be acquired by Alltech for C$40.75 per share.

Mullen Group Ltd. (MTL.TO) fell 2.18 percent after reporting first quarter earnings of $0.03 per share, down sharply from $0.40 per share a year ago.

On the economic front, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased with initial jobless claims rising up to 295,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 294,000. Economists expected jobless claims to dip to 290,000.

After reporting a notable increase in new home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, a Commerce Department report on Thursday showed new home sales to have pulled back much more than expected in March. New home sales plunged 11.4 percent to an annual rate of 481,000 in March after jumping 5.6 percent to a revised rate of 543,000 in February. Economists expected new home sales to drop to an annual rate of 518,000 from the 539,000 originally reported for the previous month.

China's factory activity moved further into negative zone in April, logging the weakest operating conditions in a year, flash estimate released by Markit Economics showed Thursday. The HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 49.2 in April, a 12-month low, from 49.6 in March. It was expected to remain at 49.6.

Eurozone private sector growth pulled back from March's 11-month high in April as concerns over Greece crisis started to weigh on economic activity despite the boost from the European Central Bank's quantitative easing. The flash composite output index fell unexpectedly to 53.5 in April from 54 in March, according to the purchasing managers' survey results published by Markit Economics. The expected score was 54.4.

Germany's private sector growth moderated at the start of the second quarter, survey data from Markit Economics showed Thursday. The flash composite output index fell to 54.2 in April from an eight-month high of 55.4 in March. The latest index reading was still the second-strongest since last September.

The French private sector growth weakened to near stagnation in April as manufacturing continued to shrink, flash survey data from Markit showed Thursday. The flash composite output index fell to 50.2 in April, a 3-month low, from 51.5 in March, signaling a fractional increase in output.

Germany's consumer confidence is set to rise further to the strongest level since October 2001, survey data from the market research group GfK showed Thursday. The forward-looking consumer climate index rose to 10.1 points in May from 10 in April. This was its highest value since October 2001, when the indicator was at 11.0 points.

French manufacturing confidence improved more than expected in April to the highest level since August 2011, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The manufacturing confidence index rose to 101 in April from 99 in March. It was expected to rise to 100. This was the highest score since August 2011.

U.K. retail sales declined for the first time in six months in March on petrol sales, casting doubt over economic growth gaining strength at the start of the year. Retail sales including auto fuel unexpectedly dropped 0.5 percent on a monthly basis in March, reversing a 0.6 percent rise in February, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday.

This was the first fall in six months and the biggest since January 2014. Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent rise for March.

Another report from the ONS showed that public sector net borrowing excluding interventions decreased by GBP 0.4 billion to GBP 7.4 billion in March. The expected level was GBP 7 billion.