Business
TSX leaps forward
TSX leaps forward
About this update from Genesis Ai Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"\nTSX leaps forward\n\nUtilities, industrials post best gains\n Mar. 1, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) -- Buoyed by the encouraging quarterly GDP numbers released today, Canadian investors lapped up stocks across a variety of sectors in mid-morning deals Monday.\n\nThe S&P/TSX composite index climbed 91.03 points by noon to 11,720.66. \n\nAlso a jump in RBC's Canadian Consumer Outlook Index helped improve sentiment.\n\nMeanwhile, copper rose to its five-week high after a massive earthquake hampered production in Chile\n\nAmong energy plays, Pacific Rubiales rose 2.57% and Canadian Natural Resources added 1.55%. Encana Corp was up 2.75%.\n\nIntegrated oil company Talisman Energy rose 1.09% after it signed an agreement with San Leon Energy of Poland to jointly develop the San Leon's gas shale assets in Poland.\n\nIvanhoe Mines edged up 0.83%. Global mining company Rio Tinto said it will hike its stake in Ivanhoe Mines by 2.7% to 22.4% by pumping in as much as $233 million.\n\nPotash Corp gathered 0.87%. Earlier today, U.S.-based Intrepid Potash said that its fourth-quarter earnings plummeted 70% on pricing.\n\nFinancial stocks attracted buyers amid mixed news from the major financial companies. National Bank of Canada gained 1.29% and Royal Bank of Canada moved up 0.93%. \n\nIn economic news, Statistics Canada reported that the country's Gross Domestic Product expanded at a 5% annualized rate in the fourth quarter 2009. This could put pressure on the policy maker to hike interest rates. Notably, Bank of Canada is scheduled to decide on interest rates tomorrow. \n\nIn a separate release, the agency said the Industrial Product Price Index rose 0.3% and the Raw Material Price Index was up 3.3%.\n\nMeanwhile, according to a survey by the Royal Bank of Canada released earlier today Canadian Consumer Outlook Index rose to 109 in February from 106 in January. The index, bench marked as of November 2009, has hit its highest level this month.\n\nThe Canadian dollar gained 0.86 cents to 95.87 cents U.S. \n\nON BAYSTREET \n\nAll but two of the 14 TSX subgroups headed higher early Monday. Utilities was the biggest gainer by lunchtime, tacking on 1.7%, followed by industrials, ahead 1.1% and telecoms, gaining 1%. \n\nHealth-care stocks were down 0.2%, gold, off 0.1%. \n\nThe TSX Venture Exchange fell 4.09 points to 1,527.10, while the Nasdaq Canada index...