North American markets post modest gains, oil extends rally - BNNBloomberg.ca

11:50 a.m. ET: TSX clings to gains, U.S equities push higher

North American equity markets hung onto their gains through midday Thursday, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index rising about half a per cent and the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite index all notching advances of about one per cent to extend Wednesday’s rally.

Crude continued to rise, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate surging 30 per cent to trade at US$18 per barrel. WTI has gained about 54 per cent over the last two sessions after the historic slide into negative territory Monday. Still, American oil has shed 70 per cent of its value since the beginning of the year over concerns of oversupply and demand destruction stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alberta’s Western Canadian Select extended its gains, rising 64 per cent to hit US$8.22 per barrel. Canadian crude prices have more than doubled in the last two sessions, after sinking as low as US$0.13 per barrel in the oil rout earlier in the week.

In Toronto, eight of the 11 TSX subgroups were in negative territory, with utilities, information technology and real estate posting the largest percentage declines. The entirety of the TSX’s gains were driven by strength in materials and energy.

The Canadian dollar rose more than half a cent against its U.S. counterpart to trade at 71.27 cents U.S.

9:40 a.m. ET: North American markets post modest gains, oil extends rally

North American equity markets posted modest gains to open Thursday’s trade, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite Index rising a little more than a third of a per cent to extend Wednesday’s rally. The modest strength in equities mirrored moves in Europe, where major indices pushed slightly higher.

Oil prices continued their March higher, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate surging nearly 20 per cent to trade at US$16.50 per barrel. That move higher has WTI up more than 40 per cent in the last two trading sessions, though American crude is still down 72 per cent on a year-to-date basis.

Alberta’s Western Canadian Select was up 56 per cent to trade at US$7.82 per barrel, though the Canadian crude contract is somewhat illiquid and only prices a handful of times per day.

That strength in crude combined with broad U.S. dollar weakness helped lift the Canadian dollar by about half of one per cent, with the loonie trading at 71 cents U.S.

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2020-04-23 13:48:07Z
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