TSX Content with Slight Gains

The TSX added more muscle early Thursday, keeping its streak alive, however slightly. The index gained 38.22 points at 25,349.72.The Canadian dollar poked ahead 0.06 cents at 69.52 cents U.S. The TSX Venture Exchange forged ahead 3.88 points Wednesday to 618.04. RBC downgraded the rating of AG Growth International to "sector perform" from "outperform". AG shares dished off eight cents to $40.98.On the economic agenda, Statistics Canada says retail sales were relatively unchanged in November. Sales were down in six out of nine subsectors, led by lower sales at food and beverage retailers. Higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations and fuel vendors (+0.7%) largely offset declines in the remaining subsectors.ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange backtracked 0.19 points to 617.86. Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher to kick off Thursday, with consumer staples ahead 0.9%, while industrials and energy each took on 0.6%. The five laggards were weighed most by gold, settling 1.2%, while materials were down 1%, and energy fell 0.2%. ON WALLSTREET The S&P 500 traded around flat Thursday as Wall Street wondered if record highs were once again in the cards.The Dow Jones Industrials gained 107.77 points to begin Thursday at 44,264.50. The much broader index dipped 4.91 points to 6,081.46. The NASDAQ Composite erased 102.98 points to 19,906.36. as Nvidia and Amazon pulled back.This action comes a day after the S&P 500 set an intraday record and finished Wednesday’s session just below its record closing high. The Dow was also within striking distance of new highs on Thursday.The fourth-quarter earnings season is also off to a strong start, with Netflix and big banks offering positive reports. But American Airlines poured some water on that enthusiasm, with the stock tumbling more than 6% on Thursday after issuing weak guidance.After weekly jobless claims data came nearly in line with expectations, traders are turning attention to expected virtual remarks from Trump to attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos. He is scheduled to speak at 5 p.m. Davos time, 11 a.m. in New York.Prices for the 10-year Treasury slipped, raising yields to 4.65% from Wednesday’s 4.60%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.Oil prices hiked 42 cents to $75.86 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold declined $21.80 an ounce to $2,749.10 U.S.