Slight gain for TSX

Feb. 24, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --

Bay Street defied predictions and opened higher Wednesday. The S&P/TSX composite index prospered 53.59 points in the first half-hour of trading at 11,580.30 Toronto's main index suffered triple-digit losses Tuesday, as downbeat consumer confidence data from the U.S. brought about selling pressure across most of the sectors and injected some caution in the market. The Index ended lower 108.04 points or 0.93% to 11,526.71 on Tuesday, its lowest closing level since February 12. In corporate announcements, Thomson Reuters Corp. reported a fall in fourth-quarter net earnings attributable to common shareholders to $177 million U.S. from $560 million U.S. Apparel retailer West 49 Inc. announced that it received a $25-million asset-based credit facility from the Bank of Montreal, for financing general operations and capital spending. Miranda Technologies Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $2.1 million compared to $7.4 million for the prior-year quarter. Non-alcoholic beverage company Cott Corporation reported a turnaround to profit in fourth-quarter 2009, with net earnings of $14.0 million compared to a net loss of $12.1 million last year. Real estate services provider FirstService Corporation reported loss from continuing operations of $0.40 per share in the fourth-quarter, compared to a loss of $0.74 per share in the year-ago quarter. Halo Resources Ltd. announced receiving approval from HudBay Minerals Inc. for drill programs at its Cold and Lost deposits in Manitoba. Among economic releases, Statistics Canada will report corporate profits in the last quarter of 2009. The Canadian dollar regained 0.21 cents to 94.90 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but three of 14 TSX subgroups were higher in the early going Wednesday. Global base metals led the pack, gaining 1%, followed by gold, 0.9% higher and metals and mining stocks, gaining 0.8%. The three laggards were health-care stocks, down 0.3%, utilities, off 0.2%, and consumer discretionary stocks, sinking 0.1%. The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 1.36 points to 1,518.63, while the Nasdaq Canada index regained 6.93 points to 738.06. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks rose early Wednesday as investors dug back in after the previous day's selloff and ahead of Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73.01 points to 10,355.42. The S&P 500 index tacked on 7.89 points to 1,102.49, and the Nasdaq composite added 20.03 points to 2,233.97. U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after a key gauge of consumer confidence tumbled, reflecting investors' growing pessimism about the strength of the recovery. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite all lost about 1%. Bernanke heads to Capitol Hill for the first of two days of testimony before lawmakers. The Fed chief is expected to discuss economic and monetary policy. But investors will also be looking for any signs about the Fed's plans to unwind some of the various emergency programs that were put in place during the crisis. Toyota faces congressional scrutiny for the second straight day, with company president Akio Toyoda speaking before the House Oversight Committee. In prepared statements released Tuesday, Toyoda said that the rush to expand the company's business led to the safety issues that resulted in the recall of over eight million vehicles. On Tuesday, witnesses argued that the problems with the brakes could be tied to the vehicles' electronic throttle system. Google said it has been notified by the European Commission that three companies have complained about its practices. On the economic front, the U.S. government released its January report on new home sales this morning (10 a.m. ET). Sales were expected to have reached an annual rate of 354,000 units last month, according to a consensus of economist opinion from Briefing.com. That would be an increase from 342,000 the prior month. Treasury prices dipped a mite, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.69% from 3.68% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil gained 40 cents to $79.26 U.S. Gold prices gave back seven dollars to $1,096 U.S.