The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 247 points with most sectors higher midday Thursday.
The best performers are info tech and healthcare, up 2.1% and 1.5%, respective.
The mining sector has shed 1.8%, dragged by precious-metals prices: gold is down 0.3% and silver, down 4.5%
Canada March wholesale sales (excluding petroleum and grains) rose 1.9% to $89 billion, above the 1.3% consensus forecast. Sales increased in five of the seven subsectors, led by machinery, equipment and supplies, Statistics Canada said. Wholesale sales were 3.3% higher in March than in the same month one year earlier.
Canada and Alberta will meet on Friday and advance a potential pipeline to transport at least one million barrels of Alberta oil a day to new markets, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
In stocks, Manulife (MFC.TO) shares are down 6.3% to $51.16 per share with 4.4-million shares being traded, after it reported a core earnings miss after trade on Wednesday.