Toronto stocks up on easing worries over US debt ceiling

Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, led by technology stocks that tracked gains in the Nasdaq, as global sentiment was lifted by hopes that Washington could resolve its debt-ceiling standoff.

At 9:45 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 145.84 points, or 0.72%, at 20,337.5, led by a more than 1% jump in both technology and consumer discretionary stocks.

Global equities rose on Thursday as easing oil and gas prices offered relief to runaway inflation fears, while top US Senate Republican backing an extension of the US debt ceiling further lifted sentiment.

"I think a lot of people are still caught off guard by the big positive news out of Washington, a lot of which has been carried over night," said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.

"The big question is how sustainable is it going to be as we still have a really big payroll number tomorrow (Canadian employment figures) and that's going to probably cause some nervousness."

Toronto-listed technology stocks gained 1.6%, eyeing their third session of gains, tracking nearly a 1% rise in US tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index.

Toronto index retreats as energy shares, inflation worries weigh

The Canadian equity index has gained nearly 17% so far this year on hopes of a steady economic recovery, but recently lost steam due to concerns around higher inflation which could derail global economic growth.

The energy group gained 0.2%%, a day after the sub-sector index recorded its worst session in over two-weeks.

Highlights

Lithium Americas Corp and Hudbay Minerals Inc were the largest percentage gainers on the TSX.

The TSX posted seven new 52-week highs and two new lows.

Across Canadian issues, there were 21 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows, with total volume of 33.42 million shares.