CANADA STOCKS-Toronto shares bounce back from last session's selloff
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TSX up 0.9%
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BlackBerry tanks on dour Q4 rev forecast
(Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET/ 1440 GMT)
By Shashwat Chauhan
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday led by gains in material and real estate shares as the market recouped some losses from its previous session, while BlackBerry shares tanked on a dour quarterly forecast.
At 9:40 a.m. ET (1440 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 176.73 points, or 0.86%, at 20,777.54, after falling more than 1% on Wednesday.
Wall Street, too, had an upbeat start to the session.
BlackBerry dropped 8.4% after the technology company forecast fourth-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations.
The materials sector, which houses Canada's major mining firms, bounced back to gain 1.3%, heavyweight financials rose 0.9% and real estate was up 1.1%.
On Thursday's data front, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week, suggesting underlying strength in the economy as the year winds down.
A separate reading showed U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 4.9% annualized rate last quarter, revised down from the previously reported 5.2% rate.
"The claims data – along with other recent labor market statistics – are consistent with a job market that is cooling but not freezing," said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics.
"We expect a further slowdown in employment to put downward pressure on wage growth and inflation, allowing the Fed to start cutting rates next year."
Global markets have rallied since last week when the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted it could look at rate cuts next year.
Back home, data showed Canadian month-on-month retail sales grew by 0.7% in October but most likely were flat in November, reinforcing market expectations of sluggish fourth-quarter growth.
The focus would shift to domestic GDP data and the November Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due Friday. (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)
