TSX stays in black

Feb. 4, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --

04:40 pm EST Equity markets in Toronto managed to hold onto their gains Wednesday, while American stocks succumbed to a short-term rush before fading late in the day.

The S&P TSX Composite Index finished the day up 52.52 points, to 8,681.15, after spending several hours 150 points ahead.

The market has been trading in a range between roughly 8,200 and 8,900 since mid-January and some analysts were hard put to explain the sharp rise.

The TSX energy sector maintained a 1% rise even as U.S. crude inventories jumped a much more than expected 7.2 million barrels last week as overall demand for motor fuel continued to slide. Suncor Inc. gained 75 cents to $24.28 and Petro-Canada advanced 47 cents to $28.11.

The financial sector moved down as investors worry about the fate of a bailout plan for troubled U.S. banks. Royal Bank declined 33 cents to $30.52 while Bank of Montreal fell $1.45 to $31.32.

The Dutch parent company of ING Canada Inc. is selling a $2-billion stake in the Canadian subsidiary. The sale will not affect ING Group's current ownership of ING Bank of Canada, known as ING Direct, which is a separate and distinct company from ING Canada. ING Canada shares tumbled $4.20 or 12.5% to $29.59.

The gold sector was up, Goldcorp Inc. rising $1.30 to $36.10 and Barrick Gold Corp. gained $1.08 to $45.20.

The base metals sector climbed as the price of copper was unchanged at $1.52 U.S. a pound. Teck Cominco Ltd. advanced 18 cents to $4.70 and First Quantum Minerals ran up $2.85 to $26.65.

Shares in HudBay Minerals Inc. were six cents lower at $4.69 after the company said that the unions at its operations in Flin Flon and Snow Lake, Man., have voted to ratify new three-year collective agreements effective Jan. 1, 2009.

The consumer staples sector was also a drag on the TSX, as shares in Saputo Inc. fell 90 cents to $18.70 after it said its third-quarter profits dropped nearly 30% to $57.8 million because of a cheese inventory writedown, depressed international selling prices and plant closure costs.

Revenues increased 18.8% to $1.517 billion from $1.277 billion.

Loblaw Cos.lost 48 cents to $33.59.

Shares in Research In Motion improved 68 cents to $68.95 after top executives reached a deal to settle a dispute with the Ontario Securities Commission over the company's past stock option practices.

The OSC will hold a hearing Thursday to consider the settlement that includes co-chief executives Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis and several other executives and directors. The OSC has accused several individuals, including Balsillie and Lazaridis, of receiving back-dated stock options.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. shares were off 14 cents at $10.52 after it said Tuesday that it plans to restate and refile its 2007 consolidated annual financial statements to lower its earnings due to an understatement of future tax costs related to the sale of its animal nutrition business.

The company said it will report earnings for the year ended Dec. 31, 2007 of $194.9 million or $1.50 per diluted share, down from previously reported earnings of $207.1 million or $1.59 per diluted share.

Railpower Technologies Corp., Quebec-based maker of eco-friendly locomotives, says it is seeking court protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Its U.S. subsidiary, Railpower Hybrid Technologies Corp., is also seeking creditor protection. Its shares plunged 3.5 cents to 4.5 cents.

The Canadian dollar subsided 0.07 cents to $81.11 cents U.S.

BAYSTREET Of the 13 TSX sub-groups, nine were in positive country, metals and mining the champion, up 4.0%, materials were next at 3.6% and gold was up 2.2%.

Among the losing groups, consumer staples took the biggest lumps, down 1.7%, financials next at 1.4%, and consumer discretionaries were off 1.1%.

The TSX Venture Exchange was 20.80 points stronger, to 890.05, while the NASDAQ Canada index was 4.58 points ahead, at 552.03

ON WALLSTREET

The Dow Jones industrials index plummeted 121.70 points to 7.956.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 6.30 points to 832.21. The NASDAQ composite index stumbled 1.25 points to 1,515.05

On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index rose to 42.9 in January from 40.1 in December, better than a consensus estimate by 39 leading economists. In November, the index reached a record low of 37.4.

The Walt Disney Co. reported a 32% decline in quarterly profits amid a downturn that chief executive Robert Iger called ``likely to be the weakest economy in our lifetime."

Iger also suggested that a broad-based decline of the DVD business was occurring as consumers shifted viewing habits onto the Internet and other formats and Disney shares fell $1.74 to $18.88 U.S.

Bank of America tumbled 52 cents to $4.78 U.S., on bailout jitters.

Costco Wholesale Corp. said its profit for the quarter ending in February will "substantially" miss Wall Street estimates due to poor sales and margins.

It also said it will not provide earnings guidance for the rest of the fiscal year and its shares fell $3.11 to $43.01 U.S.

Kraft Foods shares lost $2.65 to $26.09 U.S. after it said fourth-quarter profit fell 72% due to costs related to a restructuring program.

The maker of Velveeta, Oreo cookies and Maxwell House coffee cut 2009 guidance to $1.88 per share from $2 per share. Analysts expect a profit of $2.02 per share.

Two days before the release of January employment data, the latest ADP Employment Report in the U.S. showed that 522,000 jobs were lost in January. That is in line with consensus forecast

Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.89% from 2.88% Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

U.S. light crude oil for March delivery fell 46 cents to $40.32 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose $9.70 to settle at $902.20 U.S. an ounce.