TSX Ends Higher As Investor Sentiment Remains Upbeat - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Toronto stock market's benchmark index closed higher for the second day on Thursday, as investor sentiment remained upbeat following yesterday's positive U.S. economic data and gold stocks gained tracking the bullion price.

However, trading volumes were thin as the U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, a gauge of consumer sentiment rose in November and the index of leading economic indicators unexpectedly rose for the four straight month in October, separate reports showed yesterday, partially offsetting Fed tapering concerns.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed 8.77 points, or 0.07%, higher at 13,370.83, with intraday low of 13,362.06 and high of 13,400.77. The price of crude oil edged down, with crude for January delivery easing $0.06 to $92.24 a barrel.

Gold for December rose $6.2 to $1244.0 an ounce. Detour Gold (DGC.TO) jumped 13.8%, while B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) rose 1.9% and Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) gained 1.4%.

Shares of DHX Media Ltd. (DHX.TO) jumped 24.5% after the motion picture and video production company said it would acquire Family, children's channel in Canada, as well as Disney XD, Disney Junior and Disney Junior from Bell Media for about C$170 million in cash.

IntelliPharmaCeutics International Inc. (I.TO) lost 8.7% after announcing an "at-the-market" offering program under which it may from time to time sell up to 5,305,484 of its common shares for up to an aggregate of $16.8 million through at-the-market issuances on the NASDAQ.

In economic news from Canada, Statistics Canada said the nation's current account deficit, on a seasonally adjusted basis, decreased $0.5 billion to $15.5 billion in the third quarter, largely due to reduced deficits on trade in goods and services as well as on investment income flows.

From the euro zone, the number of unemployed persons in Germany increased unexpectedly in November, the latest figures from the Federal Labor Agency showed. The number of unemployed increased by 10,000 persons in November from a month earlier. Economists had forecast no change in the figure. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.9% in November, in line with expectations.

Meanwhile, euro zone economic confidence continued its upward trend in November, survey results from the European Commission showed. Driven by the improvement services and industry, the economic confidence index rose to 98.5 from 97.7 in the prior month. The reading was also above the consensus level of 98.