12:23 PM EDT, 05/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The TSX is up 15 points at midday, on mixed sectors.

Financials and utilities are higher, up 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, followed by healthcare, up 0.2%.

The telecoms sector is the biggest decliner, down 0.3%.

Oil traded higher early on Thursday on firming demand expectations following a day-prior report showing a larger than expected drop in US oil inventories.

Gold prices eased off a three-week high as the dollar and yields rebounded after a day-prior drop on US CPI data.

In terms of economic news, focus was on fresh data out of the United States.

TD Economics noted housing starts rose, permits fell there in April. "With the timing of Federal Reserve rate cuts being pushed back into the second half of the year, higher interest rates are expected to continue to weigh on homebuilding over the coming months," it said.

Elsewhere, CIBC noted U.S. industrial production (IP) growth was flat in April, coming one notch below expectations of a 0.1% increase. The prior month was revised down three notches to a 0.1% gain. "With the Fed likely to hold rates somewhat longer than many expected, spillovers to the global economy and to global trade will be somewhat larger and dent expectations of a solid future demand, keeping a lid on production," the bank said.

BMO Economics said the U.S. housing starts and industrial production data "underwhelm".

Bottom Line for BMO, the U.S. economic data have consistently landed on the low side of expectations of late, suggesting the economy is losing momentum in the face of restrictive monetary policy. But the jury remains out on how quickly inflation will subside to provide some rate relief.