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Jan. 6, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
The Toronto stock market was higher Wednesday afternoon as investors continued to snap up commodity stocks amid rising metal and oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 56.46 points to 11,944.54
The TSX was up for a fifth session in a row, an encouraging start to the year after charging ahead 31% in 2009.
The gold sector climbed as Barrick Gold Corp. gained 62 cents to $43.10 and Goldcorp Inc. climbed 53 cents to $43.28.
The base metals sector was also up as March copper added seven cents to $3.48 U.S. a pound.
Sherritt International ran up 35 cents to $7.22 and First Quantum Minerals gained $4.85 to $88.10.
Shares in Ivanhoe Mines gained 51 cents to $17.23 after it said Wednesday it had hired Citi investment bank and mining-sector specialist Hatch Corporate Finance to evaluate strategic options, including a sale of shares, debt or a subsidiary.
Ivanhoe's main property is the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in southern Mongolia. Rio Tinto is a minority stakeholder in Ivanhoe and a funding partner in the project.
The energy sector was ahead despite the release of inventory figures from the U.S. showing that supplies ran up 1.3 million barrels last week. Suncor Energy gained 49 cents to $39.22.
Consumer discretionary stocks were also supportive as Astral Media gained 46 cents to $34.14 and Magna International advanced 66 cents to $60.19.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. ended 2009 on a high note, saying last month's passenger traffic was up 8.1% from December 2008. Its shares climbed 12 cents to $13.38.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.66 cents to 96.91 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher. Metals and mining stocks were the champions, picking up 2.7%, materials next at 2.3% and global base metals were up 2.1%.
Health-care stocks were the worst off of the four laggards, sliding 0.7%, with real-estate off 0.6%, and financials 0.4% to the bad.
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 25.88 points to 1,577.56, while the Nasdaq Canada index eased back 0.18 points to 729.02.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, the Nasdaq slid and the broader market churned Wednesday as investors mulled weakness in tech and telecom along with signs of stabilization in the job market and services sector of the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed the day ahead 1.66 points, to 10,573.68. The broader S&P 500 nosed ahead 0.62 points to 1,137.14, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell back 7.62 points to 2,301.09.
After starting off the New Year with a big rally, investors were cautious, with stocks churning in a tight range Tuesday and Wednesday. A stronger dollar and some concerns ahead of Friday's big monthly jobs report have created some hesitation on the part of investors.
Market participants are also likely holding back in the wake of a big 2009, in which the S&P 500 gained 23%, the Dow industrials added 19% and the Nasdaq added 44%.
Despite the early January choppiness, the trend is still up, according to Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management. "When the market is strong and you enter into a new year, money is often reallocated and I think you're going to see it move into equities," he said.
Lutts said that despite the stock rally last year, most mutual fund money went into fixed income, rather than stocks, with investors still very cautious after the near financial market meltdown. That caution is also reflected by the more than $3 trillion U.S. that is sitting in cash or cash equivalents.
Ford Motor rallied 4% in active New York Stock Exchange trading one day after it reported strong December sales at the end of one of the worst years in memory for the automakers.
On Tuesday, Ford said U.S. sales jumped 34% in December versus a year ago and rose 50% from November. For the year, sales fell 15%. Ford's December sales were better than expected. Toyota and Honda also reported better-than-expected results.
Dow component 3M gained 1.4% after Goldman Sachs upgraded it to its "conviction buy" list from a "buy" rating.
Economically speaking, two jobs reports were released before the market opened.
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that 45,094 job cuts were announced in December, 10% less than November's 50,349 job cuts. That's the lowest total since December 2007, when 44,416 cuts were announced.
The ADP private nonfarm employment report for December showed an 84,000 decrease in payrolls. This was the smallest decline in jobs since March 2008.
But it was steeper than the expected decline of 75,000, according to a consensus forecast from economists surveyed by Briefing.com. In November, there was a 169,000-job decrease.
The reports are preliminaries to the most closely watched jobs report, the government's December reading of nonfarm payrolls, scheduled for release on Friday.
The Institute for Supply Management's services sector index rose to 50.1 from 48.7 in the previous month. Economists thought it would rise to 50.5, on average. A reading over 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its December policy meeting, in which the bankers opted to continue to hold interest rates at historic lows near zero. The Fed said that economic growth was showing strength and downside risks were abating.
Treasury prices fell back, raising yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.82% from Tuesday's 3.75%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil gained $1.38 to $83.15 U.S.
Gold prices added $18 to $1,137 an ounce U.S.