Stocks shook off midday concerns about the European debt crisis on Thursday, with U.S. indexes ending the day with modest gains while the Canadian benchmark index pared its losses.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 11,541.78, up 37.16 points, or 0.3 per cent, after moving in and out of positive territory throughout most of the day. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1,215.39, up 5.51 points, or 0.5 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 11,830.33, down 19.17 points, or 0.2 per cent.
Indexes had hit an air pocket in midday trading, following reports that European leaders were still too far apart in their opinions to form a coherent plan of attack to deal with the debt crisis by Sunday – only for stocks to rebound after leaders of Germany and France issued a joint statement pledging that a plan would be unveiled by next Wednesday.
U.S. bank stocks showed some strength, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. rising 2.7 per cent and Bank of America Corp. rising 1.1 per cent. As well, Alcoa Inc. rose 1.8 per cent and Chevron Corp. rose 1.1 per cent. Technology stocks were weak though, with Intel Corp. down 2.6 per cent and Dell Inc. down 5.4 per cent.
In Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia fell 0.1 per cent after announcing a $1-billion (U.S.) deal to buy a controlling stake in a Colombian bank. Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.4 per cent.
Gold producers were down after the price of gold fell to $1,612.90 an ounce, down $34.10. Barrick Gold Corp. fell 1.6 per cent. Among other commodity producers, Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.5 per cent and Teck Resources Ltd. rose 0.1 per cent.