TSX higher, looking for eighth-straight day of wins

Investing.com - Canada’s main stock exchange climbed higher on Thursday, pointing to the possible continuation of a multi-day winning streak.

By 12:15 ET, the S&P/TSX 60 index bounced by 10.5 point, or 0.7%.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index rose by 181.9 points, or 0.7%. Wednesday saw a gain of 75.59 points, or 0.3%, notching its highest closing level since February 13.

It also logged its seventh straight positive session on Wednesday, the longest daily winning streak since January.

In Canadian news, Statistics Canada reported wholesale trade levels that gained marginally in March, bolstered by the motor vehicle sector.

Additionally, a Nanos poll reported on by Bloomberg showed that nearly 80% of Canadians at least somewhat agreed that the old relationship between Canada and the U.S. is "over," reiterating sentiments that Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal party shared ahead of a parliamentary election win.

U.S. stocks mixed

U.S. stock indexes proved mixed on Thursday, amid the week’s hefty gains, as investors looked ahead to fresh economic data and a slowing flow of corporate earnings.

At 12:20 ET, the Dow jumped up 119.1 points, or 0.3%, and the S&P rose by 14.2 points, or 0.2%. However, volatility sent the tech-leveraged Nasdaq down 14.4 points, or 0.1%.

The main Wall Street indices saw a mixed session on Wall Street, but are on course for strong gains this week, mainly boosted by optimism over a U.S.-China trade deal.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track for gains of almost 2% this week so far, the S&P 500 index is up 4.1% and the NASDAQ Composite a substantial 6.8% higher.

Earnings

Though earnings season is winding down, Wednesday night and Thursday revealed key earnings releases that investors are using to gauge tariff affects on consumption and AI spending.

Wednesday after-hours earnings showed Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) and CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV), two important AI players, report outperforming results and strong guidance. Shares rose in the aftermarket for both, although it should be noted that CoreWeave stock fell after the earnings call due to significantly large CapEx guidance. 

Thursday premarket earnings reports for Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) came in, sending both stocks lower. Walmart reported strong results, topping estimates and indicating consumption levels holding firm, but CFO John Rainey’s comments on CNBC flagged potentially unsustainable price hikes due to tariffs.

Alibaba reported YoY growth, but the stock still fell on slight earnings and revenue estimate misses. Analysts remained bullish on the Chinese company, as Alibaba Cloud growth increased 18% year-over-year. 

PPI inflation, retail sales slump

With the trade turmoil seemingly settling down, investors are turning their attention to the economic data slate, looking for signs of damage being done to the world’s largest economy.

The latest producer price index showed that factory gate prices slumped on a monthly basis in April, in the latest sign of cooling inflationary pressures.

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The producer price index for final demand fell 0.5% in April, the first monthly fall since 2023, after the previous month’s figure was revised to flat from a fall of 0.4%.

Taking out more volatile items like fuel and food, so-called “core” PPI also fell on a monthly basis, down 0.4%. 

Additionally, retail sales fell 1.0% on the month in March, a more substantial loss than the 0.5% expected. 

A surge of buying before the implementation of Trump’s punishing tariffs led to the largest increase in the metric in more than two years in March. Separate surveys have indicated that households have widely been anticipating that the levies will push up prices.

Crude slumped on Iran nuclear deal talk

Oil prices fell sharply, extending recent losses, as the growing expectations for a potential U.S.-Iran nuclear deal added to demand concerns following a surprise build in U.S. inventories.

At 12:40 ET, Brent futures dropped 2.1% to $64.68 a barrel, and Crude Oil WTI Futures fell 2.1% to $61.80 a barrel.

Both benchmarks lost just under 1% on Wednesday, ending a four-day rally and slipping from the two-week high reached earlier this week.

A U.S.-Iran nuclear deal could potentially allow Tehran to export more of its crude into the world market, loosening the global crude supply-demand balance.

Additionally, data from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels in the week ended May 9, suggesting that demand may be cooling in the world’s largest energy consumer.

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Gold prices slip to one-month low, attempts rebound

Gold prices fell to a one-month low in Asian trading, but recovered some of those losses, as a recent deescalation in the U.S.-China trade war boosted risk and undermined demand for safe havens.

The yellow metal was pressured by resilience in the dollar, as the greenback drew bids before more U.S. economic data, as well as the address by Powell. A spike in Treasury yields also weighed.

Spot gold was up 1.4% at $3,221.78 an ounce, while gold futures for June rose 1.2% to $3,225.41/oz by 12:40 ET.

(Scott Kanowsky and Peter Nurse also contributed to this article)

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