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10:33 a.m.

Markets open: Stocks break 3-day losing streak

Wall Street is drifting higher Thursday following its first three-day losing streak since Halloween.

The S&P 500 was up in early trading and roughly split between stocks rising and falling. It continues to hang near its highest level since March 2022.

Much of Wall Street’s recent rally has been because of rising hopes that the United States Federal Reserve is finally done with its barrage of hikes to interest rates, which are meant to get high inflation under control. That has anticipation high ahead of a report on Friday, the U.S. government’s latest monthly update on the job market.

The Federal Reserve wants to see the job market slow by just the right amount. Too much weakness would mean people out of work and could lead to a recession, but too much strength could add upward pressure on inflation.

So far, anticipation is rising that the Federal Reserve can nail a perfect landing for the job market and overall economy. Inflation has been slowing since hitting its peak two summers ago, and expectations are building that the Fed’s next move will be to cut interest rates next year.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 was up 0.11 per cent at 4,580.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.12 per cent 36,098.56 while the Nasdaq composite was up 1.16 per cent at 14,311.99.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.08 per cent at 20,289.74.

The Associated Press

10:02 a.m.

Oil, gas emissions to be cut 35-38% by 2030 from 2019 levels

Canada will require its oil and gas industry to cut emissions 35 to 38 per cent below 2019 levels by 2030 in what the government is calling a historic first for a major fossil-fuel producing country.



Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced the long-promised oil and gas emissions cap at the COP28 summit in Dubai on Thursday, a policy likely to inflame tensions with the Conservative leaders of Alberta and Saskatchewan where the bulk of the industry is based.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will implement a cap-and-trade system to achieve the cuts. It will set a legal limit on the sector’s emissions and then allow companies to buy and trade a limited number of emissions allowances or permits. Companies that reduce emissions will be able to sell more permits, thereby rewarding those who innovate to cut pollution.

“There is no future for this industry unless they decarbonize,” Guilbeault said in an interview.

The emissions cap will go down over time until Canada’s economy reaches net zero in 2050. The announcement on Thursday is a framework that lays out the plan, with more details to be released in draft regulations in the middle of next year, Guilbeault said. Those regulations will narrow down an exact target for 2030 within the 35-38 per cent range, he said.

Bloomberg

7:30 a.m.

Laurentian Bank profit falls on restructuring costs, computer outage Laurentian Bank’s profits were hit by the costs of a major technical outage and the expenses of a strategic review.

Laurentian Bank of Canada reported its fourth-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it was hit by restructuring and other costs related to its strategic review and a major computer outage in September.

The Montreal-based bank said it earned $30.6 million or 67 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, down from a profit of $55.7 million or $1.26 per diluted share a year earlier.

The bank said the results included a $5.3-million charge related to the mainframe outage and $15.9 million in restructuring and strategic-review related charges.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $247.4 million, down from $257.1 million a year ago, while provisions for credit losses totalled $16.7 million for the quarter compared with $17.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

On an adjusted basis, Laurentian earned $1 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1.31 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Laurentian named Eric Provost as its new chief executive in October, replacing Rania Llewellyn in the top job, after the mainframe outage which happened during a planned IT maintenance update. Director Michael Boychuk was also appointed chair of its board of directors, replacing Michael Mueller, who resigned from the board.

Read full story here.

The Canadian Press

Stock markets before the opening bell

Stock and bond markets fluctuated, while the yen surged the most in three months amid renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan will soon scrap the world’s last negative interest-rate regime.

S&P 500 futures were little changed and 10-year Treasury yields added five basis points. The yen strengthened 1.6 per cent against the dollar and Japanese bonds sold off sharply, with the rate on the 10-year note jumping 12 basis points.

In other markets, gold climbed and the dollar weakened. Bitcoin slipped below US$44,000.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 101.72 points at 20,274.21 on Wednesday.

Bloomberg

What to watch today

Bank of Canada deputy governor Toni Gravelle will speak before the Windsor-Essex Region Chamber of Commerce this afternoon about the bank’s economic progress report.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will deliver a “state of the province address” to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

Canadian building permits data for October will be released this morning. In the United States, expect November’s Challenger layoff report, initial jobless claims for the week of Dec. 2 and wholesale trade data for October.

Companies reporting earnings include Laurentian Bank of Canada, EQB Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc.

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Additional reporting by The Canadian Press, Associated Press and Bloomberg

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