Canadian markets opened weakly, dipping in and out of positive territory, Thursday as lower oil and poor results from Canadian insurers dragged down markets.
In the U.S., positive jobs data and good news from technology giants boosted markets.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark index, the S&P/TSX composite, was ahead 23.43 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 11,094.63.
The Canadian dollar fell to 93.87 cents U.S. Wednesday, after closing at 94 cents U.S. on Wednesday.
Gold was trading at $1,089.30 U.S. an ounce from its previous close of $1,087.30 U.S.. The price of oil was down to $79.76 U.S. a barrel after its previous close of $80.40 U.S..
In a move to boost share prices, Waterloo, Ont.-based Research In Motion Ltd. said it will buy back up to $1.2 billion worth of its outstanding shares over the next 12 months. The BlackBerry maker said the deal would include about 21 million common shares, or 3.6 per cent of the currently outstanding common shares. Its shares were trading at $62.84, up $1.47.
Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. both posted third-quarter losses Thursday on reserve increases to protect against future equity-market declines. Manulife saw profits fall to $172 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with profit of $510 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier, while Sunlife reported a loss of $140 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with a loss of $396 million, or 71 cents a share a year earlier. Sun Life was trading at $29.40, down 71 cents and Manulife was down 41 cents to $20.18.
Agrium Inc. announced it has made its "best and final offer" for CF Industries after almost a year of negotiations. Calgary-based Agrium is now offering $45 U.S. in cash and one of its shares for every CF share. The bid adds $5 U.S. a share to Agrium's most recent offer. Agrium shares were up $1.27 to $52.50.
Meanwhile, on the data front, the value of Canadian building permits rose in September as gains in the residential sector offset a drop in industrial construction activity, Statistic Canada said Thursday. Permits were up 1.6 per cent to $5.1 billion during the month — the second straight monthly increase.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 126.13 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 9,928.27 and the Nasdaq composite index gained 35.45 points, or 1.72 per cent, to 2,090.97 just after the bell.
Technology giant Cisco Systems Inc.'s shares were up after it reported third-quarter revenue rose more than expected, and its board authorized up to $10 billion in share buybacks late Wednesday.
U.S. initial jobless claims came in at 512,000 for the week of Oct. 31, better than the expected 522,000 and a 3.8 per cent improvement over the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Continuing claims for the week of Oct. 24 fell 68,000 compared with the previous week to 5.75 million — in-line with expectations.
"On the surface, the report looked quite good. However, we continue to believe that while initial jobless claims are improving, the decline seen in continuing claims is not as legitimate. It has been estimated that 7,000 people a day lose their benefits," said Ian Pollick, economics strategist at TD Securities.
Also, the productivity of U.S. workers surged at a 9.5 per cent annual rate in the third quarter. Labor costs fell at a 5.2 per cent annual rate as companies slashed payrolls to cut expenses.
Overseas markets were mixed. The European Central Bank kept its key rate at one per cent Thursday, as expected. The Bank of England also left its key interest rate at 0.5 per cent and increased its Asset Purchase Facility by 25 billion pounds to 200 billion pounds Thursday.
London's FTSE was up 12.22 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 5,120.11 at midday. Frankfurt's DAX gained 23.26 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 5,467.49, and the Paris CAC added 24.53 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 3,694.86.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average closed down 126.87 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 9,717.44, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 135.69 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 21,479.08.
On Wednesday, the S&P/TSX climbed 45.30 points or 0.41 per cent to 11,071.2. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 30.23 points or 0.31 per cent to 9,802.14 and the Nasdaq composite index closed at 2,055.52, down 1.80 points or 0.09 per cent.
