Home Capital, commodities help TSX rise... Retail sales gained but too late for Sears...
Home Capital, commodities help TSX rise
There were gains for most sector groups of the main TSX index Thursday with healthcare, financials and materials the strongest groups.
Healthcare’s jump of 4 per cent follows billionaire investor John Paulson joining the board and financials was boosted by another prominent investor, Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Home Capital saw shares in the lender surge more than 25 per cent.
Commodities were also stronger with gold and oil prices rising around 0.4 per cent.
Of the ten sector groups on the TSX only telecoms closed with losses and the index closed higher, outperforming many of the world’s markets including the Dow & S&P; the Nasdaq was the only one of the main Wall Street indexes to close higher.
European and Asian indexes were mixed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 71.37 (0.47 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 12.74 (0.06 per cent)
Oil is trending higher (Brent $45.25, WTI $42.76 at 4.15pm)
Gold is trending higher (1251.00 at 4.15pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7556
Retail sales gained but too late for Sears
There was a 0.8 per cent rise for retail sales in April to reach $48.6 billion.
Statistics Canada reported Thursday that after removing the effects of price changes, retail sales in volume terms were up 0.3 per cent.
General merchandise stores performed best (2.1 per cent rise) while motor vehicle and parts dealers slipped 1 per cent after being one of the best performers in March.
While that brought good news for most retailers, there was a stark warning of tough conditions for others.
Sears Canada announced the closure of 59 stores with the loss of almost 3,000 jobs. The company has filed for bankruptcy protection and will try to restructure.
In a statement, the retailer said that although it has begun turnaround plans, “the continued liquidity pressures facing the company as well as legacy components of its business are preventing it from making further progress and from restructuring its legacy assets and businesses outside of a CCAA proceeding."
There were gains for most sector groups of the main TSX index Thursday with healthcare, financials and materials the strongest groups.
Healthcare’s jump of 4 per cent follows billionaire investor John Paulson joining the board and financials was boosted by another prominent investor, Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Home Capital saw shares in the lender surge more than 25 per cent.
Commodities were also stronger with gold and oil prices rising around 0.4 per cent.
Of the ten sector groups on the TSX only telecoms closed with losses and the index closed higher, outperforming many of the world’s markets including the Dow & S&P; the Nasdaq was the only one of the main Wall Street indexes to close higher.
European and Asian indexes were mixed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 71.37 (0.47 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 12.74 (0.06 per cent)
Oil is trending higher (Brent $45.25, WTI $42.76 at 4.15pm)
Gold is trending higher (1251.00 at 4.15pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7556
Retail sales gained but too late for Sears
There was a 0.8 per cent rise for retail sales in April to reach $48.6 billion.
Statistics Canada reported Thursday that after removing the effects of price changes, retail sales in volume terms were up 0.3 per cent.
General merchandise stores performed best (2.1 per cent rise) while motor vehicle and parts dealers slipped 1 per cent after being one of the best performers in March.
While that brought good news for most retailers, there was a stark warning of tough conditions for others.
Sears Canada announced the closure of 59 stores with the loss of almost 3,000 jobs. The company has filed for bankruptcy protection and will try to restructure.
In a statement, the retailer said that although it has begun turnaround plans, “the continued liquidity pressures facing the company as well as legacy components of its business are preventing it from making further progress and from restructuring its legacy assets and businesses outside of a CCAA proceeding."
