The Toronto stock market registered a modest gain Thursday amid a relatively quiet session with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 34.43 points to 13,396.49.
"U.S. capital markets often set the tone around the world," observed Chris King, portfolio manager at Morgan, Meighen and Associates.
"I do expect the next couple of days to be fairly quiet."
A major gainer was Halifax-based DHX Media Ltd. (TSX:DHX). Its stock soared $1.03 or 24.7 per cent to $5.20 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 seven cents to $46.74.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.08 of a cent to 94.46 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.
King said it's fascinating to watch people "try to divine" how the rest of the season will turn out, based on first two hours of Black Friday shopping.
Black Friday refers to the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, which is on the last Thursday of November each year and about a month before Christmas. According to lore, it's the first day that retailers can expect to go into the black for the year due to holiday-related sales.
"I don't know about the correlation between Black Friday and the rest of the season but it probably is pretty significant," King said.
The metals and mining component led TSX advancers, up 2.2 per cent while March copper was unchanged at US$3.19 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) climbed 48 cents to C$17.76 while Teck Resources (TSX:TCKI.B) was ahead 71 cents to $25.95.
The energy sector edged up 0.35 per cent as the January crude contract was off 13 cents to a six-month low of US$92.17. 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."
Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) advanced 35 cents to C$34.67.
The gold sector rose 0.35 per cent while December bullion rose $5.800 to US$1,243.50. Iamgold (TSX:IMG) improved by 10 cents to C$4.51.
The consumer staples sector was also supportive as shares in convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B) ran ahead $1.88 to $78.67 after earlier hitting a new 52-week high of $79.18.
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.
The interest rate sensitive utilities sector continued to be a drag on the TSX with Atlantic Power (TSX:ATP) up four cents to $3.81.
European bourses were also higher with London's FTSE 100 index up 0.17 per cent, the Paris CAC 40 ahead 0.19 per cent and Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.4 per cent.