Canada’s main stock index differentiated itself from sliding U.S. markets Thursday, gaining more than 150 points on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results from Royal Bank and CIBC.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 173.73 points at 22,071.71, driven by gains in the financial sector, which climbed 1.89 per cent in the day’s trading.
The big winners were Royal Bank — which closed up 5.19 per cent after announcing a dividend hike and share buyback plan in the wake of the successful close of its HSBC Canada acquisition – and CIBC, which gained 7.01 per cent after reporting a second-quarter profit of $1.75 billion, up from $1.69 billion in the same quarter last year.
South of the border, it was a different story.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 330.06 points at 38,111.48, while the S&P 500 index was down 31.47 points at 5,235.48. The Nasdaq composite closed down 183.50 points at 16,737.08.
The…
