Business
Stocks make way upward
Stocks make way upward
About this update from Hudbay Minerals Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\nStocks make way upward\n\nMetals, materials lift TSX\n Feb. 11, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) -- The Toronto stock market moved higher Thursday on rising commodity stocks and some relief over a European Union deal to help Greece manage its growing debt crisis.\n\nThe S&P/TSX Composite Index greeted noon 75.64 points up to 11,361.97. \n\nThe financial sector was down amid investor disappointment with earnings from Canada's big life insurance companies.\n\nSun Life Financial shares fell $1.26 to $30.10 after it said on Thursday that quarterly profit more than doubled to $296 million or 52 cents a share in the last quarter of 2009. However, that's less than the 65 cents a share that analysts expected.\n\nManulife Financial Corp. says it had an $868-million profit in the fourth quarter, the equivalent of 51 cents per common share. That's an improvement from a year-earlier loss of $1.87-billion, or $1.24 per share and its shares moved down 63 cents to $18.87.\n\nEarnings from Great-West Lifeco Inc. will also be released during the day and its shares were down 32 cents to $26.18.\n\nElsewhere in the sector, Bank of Montreal rose 42 cents to $53.30.\n\nThe March copper contract was ahead four cents to $3.03 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector advanced almost two per cent. Teck Resources ran ahead $1.63 to $37.17 while HudBay Minerals rose 55 cents to $13.\n\nAmong gold issues, Barrick Gold Corp. gained 48 cents to $38.38.\n\nThe TSX energy sector was down slightly as Suncor Energy declined 49 cents to $30.76.\n\nCanada's largest natural gas producer, EnCana Corp., saw its fourth-quarter profit fall 41 per cent as lower natural gas prices took a bite out of its top line. EnCana, which split off its oil division last year as Cenovus earned a fourth-quarter profit of $636 million, compared to $1.08 billion in the same period a year ago.\n\nStripping out the impact of the oil assets that were spun off into Cenovus, EnCana said operating earnings fell to 50 cents per share from 73 cents. Its shares moved 18 cents higher to $32.65.\n\nCenovus also handed in its first earnings report since being spun off from EnCana, showing that the company had net income of $24 million and operating earnings of $152 million in the fourth quarter. Its shares climbed 20 cents to $24.94.\n\nOn the retail front, shares in Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd. fell $3.01 t...