TORONTO - The Toronto stock market registered a modest gain Thursday in what could be a quiet session with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 20.69 points to 13,382.75.
A major gainer was Halifax-based DHX Media Ltd. (TSX:DHX). Its stock soared $1.08 or 25.9 per cent to $5.25 after it said it will pay about $170 million cash to buy several children’s specialty TV channels, including Family, under a proposed deal with Bell Media (TSX:BCE). BCE rose 11 cents to $46.78.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.05 of a cent to 94.33 cents US as data showed that Canada's broadest measure of trade showed some improvement during the third quarter.
Statistics Canada reported that the current account deficit decreased $500 million to $15.5 billion in the third quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
New York markets reopen Friday for a shortened session. And traders will be anxious to see if Americans came out in force starting Thursday night to kick off the start of the holiday shopping season.
The metals and mining component led TSX advancers, up 1.1 per cent while March copper was unchanged at US$3.19. First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) climbed 24 cents to C$17.52.
The gold sector rose 0.4 per cent while December bullion rose $5.60 to US$1,243.50. Iamgold (TSX:IMG) improved by 11 cents to C$4.52.
The energy sector edged up 0.25 per cent as the January crude contract was off nine cents to a six-month low of US$92.21 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil racked up a steep loss of $1.38 on Wednesday as U.S. oil inventories unexpectedly rose last week instead of declining.
The Energy Department reported that the U.S. supply of crude oil is now 391.4 million barrels, which is 4.6 per cent above year-ago levels and “well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.”
On the corporate front, the bidding battle for Australia’s Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co. continued Thursday. Murray Goulburn, Australia’s largest dairy exporter, has increased its offer for Warrnambool to AU$9.50 a share in cash, which would value Warrnambool at 532 million Australian dollars. MG's chief rival is Canada’s Saputo Inc. (TSX:SAP), which announced Monday that it would pay AU$9.20 per share if receives more than half of Warrnambool’s shares or AU$9 per share if it doesn’t get a majority. Saputo shares were up 11 cents to C$48.39.
European bourses were also higher with London's FTSE 100 index and the Paris CAC 40 ahead 0.12 per cent and Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.39 per cent.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 finished at its highest since early December 2007 after advancing 1.8 per cent. The benchmark’s surge has been driven by the Japanese currency’s slump to its lowest in half a year as traders bet on more monetary easing from the central bank as it tries to revive the world’s third biggest economy.
Most other Asian benchmarks also finished higher, taking their lead from U.S. indexes, which hit record highs again Wednesday thanks to a string of positive economic and earnings reports.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.8 per cent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up less than 0.1 per cent.