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Mar. 23, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks moved up further in mid-morning deals Tuesday, with base metals and information technology stocks posting decent gains. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 62.07 points by noon to 12,029.24. Investor sentiment was boosted after reports said the country's leading indicators advanced for a ninth straight month and on a marginal recovery in commodities prices. Quadra Mining's $1.51-billion deal to merge rival FNX also triggered positive sentiment among the mining stocks. Base metals stocks were in the limelight, with the index adding 2.28%. Quadra Mining and rival FNX Mining have agreed to merge a $1.51-billion all-stock deal. Each FNX share will be exchanged for 0.87 Quadra shares, valuing each FNX share at $15.12. FNX gained 4.98% to $15.59, well above the exchange price, indicating short covering in the stock. Quadra edged up 0.12%. Major Drilling gathered 2.49%. Mineral explorer Crowflight Minerals was down 3.03%. The company announced the appointment of Stephen Davies as its Chief Operating Officer. In the information technology sector, Research In Motion gathered 1.77%. Celestica Inc. surged 4.22%. IT company Glacier Media rose 1.94% even after reporting lower net income of $0.15 per share for 2009, compared to $0.30 per share for the year-ago quarter. Among financial plays, Scotiabank moved up 0.81%. Investment banker C.A. Bancorp Inc. gathered 7.44% after reporting break-even net income for the fourth quarter, compared to a net loss of $0.39 per share for the year-ago quarter. In the gold sector, Kinross Gold moved up 1.16%. Meanwhile, gold mining company Jaguar Mining shed 2.25% after reporting a wider fourth-quarter net loss of $0.36 per share, compared to a net loss of $0.05 per share in the prior-year quarter. Among energy stocks, Crew Energy added 1.94%. Oil and natural gas company Monterey Exploration gained 4.32% despite reporting lower funds from operations of $0.05 per share in the fourth quarter, compared to $0.11 per share in the prior year quarter. Oil and gas explorer Angle Energy surrendered 5.19% after reporting lower net income for the fourth quarter at $0.04 per share, compared to $0.07 per share for the year-ago quarter. In economic news, Statistics Canada said the country's leading indicators rose 0.8% in February after a 0.7% advance in January. Economists were expecting the leading composite index to rise 0.9%. The growth was largely led by household demand, with the housing index accelerating to 1.7% growth. The Canadian dollar took more steps toward parity, gaining 0.16 cents to 98.29 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All 14 TSX subgroups were positive by midday. Metals and mining stocks charged ahead 1.7%, followed by global base metals, up 1.6%, and information technology, gaining 1.4%. The TSX Venture Exchange nosed ahead 0.78 points to 1,555.37. The Nasdaq Canada index gained 6.88 points to 801.73. ON WALLSTREET In New York, a better-than-expected existing home sales report helped stocks cut losses Tuesday, but trading remained choppy following a weak start to the session. The Dow Jones industrial average moved 32.27 points higher by noon to 10,818.16. The S&P 500 index was up 0.86 points to 1,166.67, while the tech-rich Nasdaq inched ahead 2.16 points to 2,397.56. Stocks initially struggled out of the gate Tuesday but turned higher following the release of the housing report, which showed existing home sales fell in February from January levels, but still topped estimates. Economically speaking, existing home sales fell to a 5.02-million-unit rate in February from a 5.05-million-unit rate in January, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Tuesday morning. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought sales would fall to a five-million-unit rate. The continued weakness in the housing market has been one of the main worries for investors as they look for signs this year that the economic recovery has some durability. While the report showed weakness from the previous month, it still managed to beat forecasts, providing a bit of support for stocks Tuesday. KB Home reported a narrower quarterly loss versus a year earlier that was nonetheless weaker than analysts' estimates, with lower revenue that also missed expectations. The U.S. homebuilder said prices and demand for its houses fell in the first quarter. Shares slipped 3% Tuesday. The price of the benchmark 10-year note sagged, to Monday's 3.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil picked up 20 cents to $81.80 U.S. Gold prices dropped three dollars to $1,102 U.S.