Economic Data Sends Markets Soaring

Canada's main stock index hit a record high on Thursday due to gains in financial and commodity stocks, and following Wall Street's rally spurred by U.S. retail sales data.

The TSX Composite Index kept its win streak rolling, adding 106.15 points to move into Thursday afternoon at 24,667.35.

The Canadian dollar dropped 0.14 cents to 72.55 cents U.S.

In corporate news, the National Bank of Canada upgraded Lithium Americas' stock to outperform from sector perform. Lithium gave back 12 cents, or 1.7%, to greet noon EDT at $4.40.

The financials, the most heavily weighted TSX sector, gained, following a rise of 84 cents, or 1.1%, in Brookfield Corporation to $76.09, and Trisura Group, which claimed $1.44, or 3.2%, to $46.04.

Elsewhere, BRP eked up 11 cents to $78.54 after the Canadian manufacturer of power products initiated a process to sell its marine businesses.

On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reports Canadian investors increased their exposure to foreign securities by $12.3 billion in August, mainly in U.S. shares. Meanwhile, foreign investors acquired $10 billion of Canadian securities.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange nosed up 2.66 points to 609.30.

Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green in Thursday’s first hour, with gold up 2.1%, materials ahead 1.1%, while energy rumbled 0.7%.

The four laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, off 0.6%, health-care, down 0.3%, and real-estate, sliding 0.2%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks rose Thursday after getting a boost from semiconductor names, while strong economic data eased lingering fears of a potential recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial climbed 127.59 points to 43,205.29.

The S&P 500 index gained 20.29 points to 5,862.76.

The NASDAQ Composite jumped 115.92 points to 18,483.

Chip stocks led the gains, reversing some of their recent losses. Artificial intelligence darling Nvidia rose 3% and notched a new all-time high. The stock was boosted after Taiwan Semiconductor, a major supplier for Nvidia and other chip manufacturers, reported strong third-quarter results and raised its revenue forecast for the last three months of the year. Shares of TSMC jumped 13%, while AMD also rose 1%.

September’s retail sales figures showed that consumer spending was still robust, with monthly spending increased by 0.4%, while Dow Jones consensus estimate called for 0.3%. Sales excluding autos shot up by 0.5%, much hotter than the 0.1% forecast. Jobless claims for the week ended Oct. 12 were also lower than expected.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury slumped, raising yields to 4.10% from Wednesday’s 4.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices inched up two cents to $70.41 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices added $15.00 to $2,706,30 U.S. an ounce