TSX Wanes as Commodities Fall

Canada's commodity-heavy main stock index opened lower on Thursday, led by losses in oil and gold stocks as a contraction in the U.S. economy heightened fears of weakening demand.The TSX Composite Index dipped 60.11 points to begin Thursday at 24,781.57.The Canadian dollar slipped 0.09 cents at 72.54 cents U.S. In corporate news, Alimentation Couche-Tard and Japan's Seven & i said they have signed a non-disclosure agreement that will give the Canadian company access to the Japanese retailer's financial data as it seeks a $47-billion acquisition. Couche-Tard shares tailed off $1.25, or 1.7%, to $70.71.In the economic docket, Markit reports its Manufacturing PMI in Canada decreased to 45.3 points in April from 46.3 points in March. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange poked 2.13 points to 655.75All but two of the 12 subgroups were lower in the first hour, gold faltering 2.9%, materials down 2%, and health-care off 0.9%. The gainers were information technology, ahead 1.9%, and energy, edging up 0.2%. ON WALLSTREET Stocks rose on Thursday after strong quarterly results from two Big Tech players eased concerns that artificial intelligence progress would slow amid economic turmoil.The Dow Jones Industrials barreled ahead 177.28 points to 40,846.66.The much-broader index perked 46.57 points to 5,615.63The NASDAQ Composite recovered 264.35 points, or 1.5%, to 17,710.69. Investor fears that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a downturn in the U.S. economy would threaten the AI trade were assuaged after Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected revenue in the first quarter, with Meta’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg saying on an earnings call Wednesday that the business is “performing very well” and that it’s “well positioned to navigate the macroeconomic uncertainty.”Microsoft also reported top- and bottom-line beats in the fiscal third quarter as well as strong results from its Azure cloud business. On top of that, the company offered upbeat guidance, further alleviating some concerns about tech companies’ performance in the months ahead. Those results sent shares up about 10%, while Meta shares advanced more than 5%. Other names like AI chip darling Nvidia also gained more than 3%.Denting Thursday’s bullishness somewhat was a jump in weekly jobless claims to 241,000, more than the Dow Jones estimate of 225,000. That jump exacerbated further concerns about the economy after the weak first-quarter gross-domestic-product report earlier in the week and raises the stakes for April’s non-farm payrolls reading on Friday.Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell back , raising yields to 4.17% from Wednesday’s 4.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directionsOil prices moved higher 39 cents to $58.60 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold sank $87.50 to $3,231.40 U.S.