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Nov. 16, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks looked to extend their gains from the previous session Monday morning in Toronto, and early signals were somewhat positive following a key reading on the manufacturing sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 98.04 points in the first half-hour of trading to 11,505.72.
Global stocks have run up in the last few weeks, and it is looking like only the emergence of dismal economic data can stop the current bull run.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was making headlines on his trip to South Asia, urging closer trading ties between Canada and India.
The prices for oil and gold both shot up, gold making its way to yet another new record.
Bombardier Aerospace, a division of Bombardier Inc., announced that it will offer its commercial aircraft customers in the Middle East ready access to parts through its existing parts depot at Dubai International Airport.
Uranium One Inc. announced it has received approval from Kazakh Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources or MEMR to buy 50% joint venture interest in the Karatau Uranium Mine.
OPTI Canada Inc. said it plans to offer by way of private placement $425 million U.S. of First Lien Senior Secured Notes. The company stated that the purpose of the private offering is to establish sufficient liquidity and flexibility for the company to proceed with its prior announced review of strategic alternatives process.
Economically speaking, manufacturing sales rose 1.4% in September to $41.7 billion, largely reflecting increases in the motor vehicle industry, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada.
Manufacturing sales have increased in three of the past four months, after dropping to a recent low of $38.5 billion in May. Despite the recent gains, sales remained 18.6% below September 2008 levels.
The Canadian dollar tacked on half a cent to 95.69 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All 14 TSX subgroups sprinted out of the gate, led by metals and mining, ahead 2.6%, global base metals, up 2.4% and materials, jumping 1.7%.
The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 14.32 points to 1,374.22, while the Nasdaq Canada index picked up 1.43 points to 678.29.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks opened higher Monday as investors responded to a mixed report on retail sales and the dollar weakened.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved 97.80 points ahead to begin the week at 10,368.27. The S&P 500 index was up 13.51 points to 1,106.99, while the Nasdaq composite index went higher by 23.83 points to 2,191.71
Investors are also awaiting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at midday.
Wall Street has rallied for the past two weeks as investors have gained confidence in the pace of the economic recovery."There really just doesn't seem to be anything holding this market back," said Manus Cranny, senior market commentator of MF Global Spreads in London.
Cranny said the markets are being driven by "a tsunami of positive sentiment."
Retail sales jumped 1.4% in October from the prior month, according to the Census Bureau, exceeding the increase of 0.9% expected by a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
Excluding automobiles, sales rose 0.2%, falling short of the 0.4% gain forecast by Briefing.com consensus.
That's compared to an overall decline of 1.5%, or an increase of 0.5% without auto sales, the prior month.
General Motors, releasing its first financial results since emerging from bankruptcy in July, said it lost $1.2 billion U.S. in the third quarter. It also said it would begin repaying government loans in December. The U.S. government would receive $1 billion, with nearly $200 million going to the governments of Canada and Ontario.
Treasury prices jumped, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.39% from Friday's 3.42%.
The price of a barrel of oil leaped $1.01 to $77.33 U.S.
Gold prices improved $11 at $1,128 U.S. an ounce.