Business
Stocks on the march
Stocks on the march
About this update from Fortis Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nStocks on the march\n\nTSX rides gains for gold, materials\n\n Apr. 30, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) -- Bay Street stocks were hovering in positive territory in mid-morning deals Friday, amid firm commodities prices and on hopes for a quicker resolution for the Greece debt crisis by the E.U. The S&P/TSX composite index leaped 79.44 points by noon to 12,279.76Traders took cues from today's GDP report, which revealed that the Canadian economy grew roughly in line with expectations in February. Also, quarterly GDP data from south of the border helped lift sentiment.The Global Gold Index surged, with Barrick Gold and Goldcorp adding over 2% each. Iamgold gained 5.5%.Gold producer Agnico-Eagle Mines rose 2.41% even after reporting lower first quarter net income of $0.14 per share, compared to $0.35 per share in the same quarter last year. Analysts were expecting the company to post net income of $0.29 per share in the quarter. The company attributed the reduction in income to a non-cash foreign currency translation loss of $0.06 per share, and a non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $0.11 per share in the quarter.Among energy plays, Suncor Energy was up 2.11% and Imperial Oil moved up 0.72%.In the health-care space, SXC Health Solutions gathered 3.33%.Distribution utility company Fortis Inc. edged up 0.76%. The company said its first-quarter net earnings increased to $0.56 per common share from $0.52 per common share in the prior year quarter. In addition, the company said that its significant capital program, which is expected to be about $1.1 billion in 2010 and approach $5 billion over the five-year period from 2010 through 2014, should drive growth in earnings and dividends. Media and entertainment company Corus Entertainment said it would sell the Corus Quebec radio stations to COGECO Inc., a telecommunication services providing company, in a transaction valued around $80 million. Both the stocks gained around 0.70% each. Meanwhile, information technology shares were under pressure, with Open Text plummeting 7.67%. The company reported lower third-quarter net income of $0.23 per share, compared to $0.41 per share in the year ago period. Analysts were expecting the company to record $0.74 per share for the quarter.Paper manufacturer Domtar Corp. shed 2.51%. The company swung to profit in first quarter, reporting net earnings of $...