Power surge for TSX

Nov. 9, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --

The Toronto stock market surged Monday, spearheaded by rising commodity stocks as U.S. dollar weakness helped boost prices for oil and metals. The S&P/TSX composite index charged upwards by 223.08 points, or 2%, to 11.473.50. After disappointing employment news last week, investors consoled themselves that interest rates are unlikely to rise in such a weak economic environment. And investors got good news from the weekend gathering of officials from the G20 countries, including Canada, that governments are in no hurry to cut off stimulus measures. Low-interest rates attract investors into the stock market because many have been sitting on cash and realizing little returns from money market funds. A falling U.S. dollar and worries that hurricane Ida could damage oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico pushed oil prices higher, with EnCana Corp. ahead $1.76 to $62.88 while Suncor Inc. advanced $1.64 to $37.04. The gold sector rose, withGoldcorp Inc. rose $1.94 to $46.42 and Kinross Gold Corp. improved 36 cents to $20.48. The base metals sector was up as December copper gained three cents to $2.98 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources gained $1.14 to $34.32 and HudBay Minerals rose 64 cents to $16.87. The financial sector was also stronger, with Manulife Financial up 43 cents to $20.98 and TD Bank up $1.77 to $66.35. The health care and consumer staples sectors were slightly lower. On the earnings front, IT services company CGI Group Inc. said quarterly earnings from continuing operations totalled $82.6 million or 27 cents per share, up from a year-ago profit of $75.3 million or 24 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter was $926.1 million, down from $929.2 million a year before. Analysts had expected earnings per share of 24 cents and revenue of $960 million for the quarter. Its shares dipped 15 cents to $12.98. Quadra Mining Ltd. shares slipped four cents to $15.41 as the company reported net income of $14.7 million U.S. or 16 cents U.S. per share in the third quarter, down from year-ago profit of $20.8 million U.S. or 31 cents per share. Quarterly earnings total $87.2 million, down from $115.96 million last year, impacted by low sales volumes and one-time items. Elsewhere, shares in Mega Brands Inc. soared 19 cents or 39.58% to 67 cents after the company won a $72-million settlement related to its ill-fated acquisition of the Magnetix line of magnetic toys. The line, acquired from Lawrence, Jeffrey and Sydney Rosen's Rose Art business, had to be recalled and redesigned after it was learned that the magnets could come loose and be swallowed by children. In economic news, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said that the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of housing starts reached 157,300 units in October, up from 149,300 units in September. CMHC said the multiple starts segment was largely responsible for the increase. The Canadian dollar strengthened 1.58 cents to 94.59 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups moved higher. Metals and mining surged 3.2%, followd by global base metals, up 3.1% and energy, gaining 2.9%. Only a 0.9% stumble by health-care stocks kept things from being unanimous. The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 14.74points to 1,335.36, while the Nasdaq Canada index was 26.82 points in the black to 666.07. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks rallied Monday, with the Dow industrials surging to a 13-month high, as investor optimism kept up momentum. The Dow Jones Industrials were higher by 203.52 points, or 2%, to 10,226.94. The S&P 500 index strengthened 23.78 points to 1,093.08, while the Nasdaq composite index was up 41.62 points to 2,154.06. All but one of the 30 components of the blue-chip index closed higher. Financial and commodity-related shares led the advance. The surge began early Monday after the Group of 20 said over the weekend that it would keep economic stimulus in place. Finance ministers of the G-20 met over the weekend and pledged to continue government aid. The dollar fell sharply against the euro and British pound, while commodities and commodity-linked stocks rose. With no significant economic indicators on Monday's docket, investors focused on corporate news, particularly talk about deals -- possible and completed. Kraft launched a $16.3-billion U.S. hostile takeover bid Monday for British candymaker Cadbury after the deadline for the initial bid passed without a deal. Cadbury rejected Kraft's initial $16.7-billion U.S. offer in early September and again turned it down. Comcast and GE have reportedly agreed on the worth of NBC Universal. The agreement is a major hurdle cleared for Comcast as it aims to gain control of NBC Universal. Northrop Grumman has sold its consulting arm to two private equity firms. The $1.65-billion U.S. deal was announced Sunday. Treasury prices nipped higher, lowering the yields for the benchmark 10-year note to 3.47% from Friday's 3.50%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil jumped $2 to $79.29 U.S. Gold prices advanced $6 to $1,102 U.S. an ounce.