Feb. 2, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks extended their early gains Tuesday morning as gauges of most sectors edged higher for a second day.
However, energy stocks were struggling to move up convincingly as traders were digesting earnings reports from major oil companies Suncor and BP PLC
The S&P/TSX Composite Index continued its climb by noon hour, gaining 87.69 points to 11,405.24
The prices of oil and gold both advanced.
The Gold Index added strength, as Eldorado Gold rose 2.87% and Harmony Gold gathered 3.79%.
Meanwhile, Candente Gold slipped 8.11%. The company revealed the appointment of John Foulkes as Vice President of Corporate Development. Foulkes has over 10 years of experience managing Corporate Development and Investor Relations programs for Canadian and US public companies.
Information technology plays continued to be under the buyers' radar, with Blackberry maker Research In Motion rising 1.54% after a recent research report said that worldwide smart phones sales grew 30% in the fourth quarter.
Enterprise content management solutions provider Open Text added 1.25%.
In news from the oil patch, the country's largest oil company Suncor Energy reported that it had swung to profit in fourth quarter but missed consensus estimates. Also Europe's biggest oil company, BP Plc missed consensus estimates, despite swinging to profit in fourth quarter.
Among energy plays, Encana Corp. rose 1.13% and Canadian Natural Resources gained 1.55%.
Integrated oil company Cenovus Energy edged up to $25.92. The company recommended its shareholders to reject an unsolicited offer made by TRC Capital Corp. The offer price was $23.55 per common share.
Suncor Energy erased 2.41% after reporting fourth-quarter net earnings of $0.29 per share, compared to a net loss of $0.24 per share in the fourth quarter of 2008.
First Uranium dwindled 22.87% after it said it will go slow in its expansion plans in South Africa.
Printing papers dealer Catalyst Paper Corp. slipped 5.66% upon announcing that it will defer its $100-million rights issue, pending search for a new CEO.
Toronto Stock Exchange operator TMX Group slipped 1.78% after it said a reduction in stock trading fees for 'penny stocks' would cost it about $15 million a year.
Computer security services provider Absolute Software lost 4.81% after it posted second-quarter net loss of $0.05 per share, narrower than $0.32 per share in the prior year period.
The Canadian dollar gained another 0.14 cents to 94.30 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher by lunch time. Real-estate stocks led the way with a gain of 1.7%, followed by information technology and industrials, advancing 1.4% each.
The one losing group was the telecoms group, off 0.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was 4.43 points better at 1,514.37, while the Nasdaq Canada index was ahead 10.30 points to 710.38.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities rallied near midday Tuesday as investors built on the previous session's rally amid better-than-expected corporate results and signs of stability in the housing sector.
A Senate hearing on financial reform was also in focus, while a weaker dollar lifted commodity stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average tacked on another 65.14 points by midday to 10,250.67. The S&P 500 index progressed 8.45 points to 1,097.64. The Nasdaq composite was ahead 10.06 points to 2,181.26.
Stocks rallied Monday, finding a little momentum after two-week selloff that saw the S&P 500 lose almost 7%. Better-than-expected readings on personal income and manufacturing and Exxon Mobil's quarterly results all helped to fuel the rally.
Gains were broad based, with 27 of 30 Dow stocks rising, including Alcoa, which was upgraded by Citigroup.
Economically speaking, the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index rose 1%, in line with expectations. The index fell 16.4% in the previous month.
Auto sales are due throughout the day.
The Senate Budget Committee was holding a hearing on the 2011 budget. In prepared testimony, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said a bipartisan effort is needed to trim a deficit the Obama White House mostly inherited from the Bush administration. He said the economy has recovered, but it will take time for the private sector to create new jobs.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman and current economic adviser Paul Volcker testifies on financial reform before the Senate Banking Committee later in the day.
UPS reported lower quarterly revenue and earnings versus a year earlier, but the results that topped analysts' expectations. The company also issued a 2010 earnings forecast of $2.70 to $3.05 U.S. per share, up from 2009. Analysts are expecting $2.81 U.S. per share. Shares were little changed in the early going.
With around 48% of the S&P 500 having reported results, earnings are currently on track to have risen 204% from the prior year, according to the latest estimates from Thomson Reuters. But the improvement is mostly because of cost-cutting and easy comparisons to a wretched fourth quarter of 2008.
The financial sector is expected to lead the advance, rising 73% versus a year earlier. Strip out financial sector results and earnings are only expected to rise 15%.
Revenue is set to rise about 8% year over year. Without financials, revenue is expected to rise about 3%.
Treasury prices moved up, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.64% from Monday's 3.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil went up $1.89 to $76.32 U.S.
Gold prices added $13 to $1,118 U.S.