Canada's main stock index on Thursday remained in positive country, propelled by telecoms and financials, as investors assessed the prospects of a U.S.-Iran peace deal alongside a slew of corporate earnings.

The TSX strengthened 73.7 points to open the Thursday session at 36,220.12.

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.03 cents at 71.34 cents U.S.

Canadian Natural Resources beat second-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, benefiting from higher oil and natural gas production, while AtkinsRéalis and Quebecor also posted a rise in quarterly revenue.

Shares in Natural Resources moved higher 98 cents, or 1.6%, to $63.83, while those for Atkins grabbed $3.77, or 4.2%, to $92.94.
Quebecor shares dropped nine cents to $63.36.

Restaurant Brands International beat overall same-store sales growth expectations for the second quarter, helped by resilient demand at its Burger King chain in the U.S.

The parent company of Tim Hortons fell $1.21, or 1.2%, to $103.04.

Lundin Mining and McEwen also reported a rise in second-quarter revenue late on Wednesday.

Lundin shares subsided 58 cents, or 1.4%, to $38.24. McEwen fell $1.41, or 5.1%, to $26.47.

At least six brokerages hiked price targets for Shopify after the e-commerce firm forecast quarterly revenue above estimates.
Shopify jumped $4.48, or 2.2%, to $206.45.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.62 points to 922.21

The 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, telecoms better by 1.2%, financials, improving 0.6%, and gold, up 0.2%.

The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by information technology, sliding 2.7%, consumer discretionary stocks, off 0.9%, and real-estate, falling 0.8%.

ON WALLSTREET

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ moved higher on Thursday as traders kept an eye on the Middle East, with a deal to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz in the works. Wall Street also weighed a slew of corporate earnings releases.

The Dow Jones Industrials subsided 76.43 points, to 54,272.69.

The S&P 500 recovered 14.16 points to 7,736.

The NASDAQ Composite hiked 106.45 points to 26,469.89.

NASDAQ’s rise was helped by gains in semiconductor stocks. Broadcom shares rose nearly 2%, while Marvell Technology climbed 3%. Nvidia also traded in the green.

However, Sandisk shares dropped 13%. The memory name posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that failed to impress investors.

Additionally, AppLovin tumbled 16% on mixed quarterly results, and Western Digital shed 18% as the company’s first-quarter forecast disappointed investors. Its fourth-quarter results topped expectations, however.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury hiked, lowering yields to 4.64% from Wednesday’s 4.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices recovered 98 cents to $75.20 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices were in the green $20.90 to $4,307.10 U.S. an ounce.