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Stocks Recover from Wednesday Losses

Canada's main stock index rose – big-time -- on Thursday, lifted by commodity stocks, as oil and metal prices recovered from steep losses in the last two sessions sparked by fears of an impending global recession.

The S&P/TSX staged a comeback of 268.84 points, or 1.4%, to open Thursday at 18,998.30.

The Canadian dollar heightened 0.32 cents of breakeven to 77.02 cents U.S.

On the economic slate, Canada's merchandise exports rose 4.1% in May, a fifth consecutive monthly increase. Meanwhile, imports decreased 0.7%.

As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world widened from $2.2 billion in April to $5.3 billion in May, the largest trade surplus since August 2008.

Elsewhere, the IVEY Purchasing Managers Index shrank to 62.2 in June, a far cry from May's 72, and far below the 71.9 figure in June 2021.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange regained 9.93 points, or 1.7%, to 612.28.

All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green, with energy barreling 4.4% higher, materials up 3%, and gold better by 1.8%.

Only industrials missed the party, doffing 0.4%.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as Wall Street looked to extend a modest winning streak.

The Dow Jones Industrials gained 156.67 points to 31,194.35.

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The S&P 500 strengthened 31.86 points to 3,876.94. The S&P 500, which sits about 20% off its record high, is looking for its first four-day winning streak since late March.

The NASDAQ Composite jumped 154.89 points, or 1.3%, to 11,516.74.

Energy stocks were leading the gains on Thursday, reversing some recent losses as oil prices rebounded. Chevron rose 2.5%, while Exxon jumped more than 3%.

Freeport-McMoRan surged 6.6% and Nucor rose 5%, as commodity stocks climbed.

Chipmakers were higher in early trading after South Korea’s Samsung posted an 11% jump in profit and 21% surge in revenue for the latest period on strong sales of memory chips. Shares of AMD gathered 4% and Nvidia gained 3%.

Another notable early mover was GameStop, which popped 10% after the video game retailer said a four-for-one stock split was approved by its board.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims and continuing claims both ticked up slightly last week. The U.S. trade deficit for May came in slightly higher than expected at $85.5 billion but was still down month over month.

The U.S. Labor Department’s official jobs report is due out on Friday.

Treasury prices dropped, bringing yields up to 2.97% from Wednesday’s 2.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $4.74 to $103.27 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices moved upward $9.90 to $1,746.70 U.S. an ounce.