Mar. 20, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
10:23 am EST
The Toronto stock market was up slightly Friday morning - the first day of spring - after a run of eight straight winning sessions amid a much better than expected retail sales report for January.
New York markets staged a minor advance following some grim corporate news at the end of a positive week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index charged out of the gate 37.61 higher to 8,728.10.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said that retail sales rose 1.9% in January to $33.7 billion after declining 5.2% in December - their largest monthly decline in more than 15 years.
Sales rose in five of eight retail sectors, led by a 3.8% increase in the automotive sector.
Oil and other commodities surged Thursday on hopes a scheme by the U.S. Federal Reserve to help stabilize the banking sector by buying back Treasurys will blunt the effects of the recession.
Suncor Inc. moved down 50 cents to $32.90.
Elsewhere in company news, SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd. said Friday that an announcement last year overstated the estimated resource at one of its coal projects due to erroneous information provided to it by an independent consultant.
The company, a subsidiary of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. said the errors apply to the West Field portion of the Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia and don't affect the separate South-East Field and the Ovoot Tolgoi underground project. Ivanhoe shares added six cents to $6.37 while South Gobi shares fell 77 cents to $9.10.
Kinross Gold Corp. is staking a claim in the diamond business by paying $150 million U.S. for an indirect interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories and a 20% stake in Harry Winston Diamond Corp.
Harry Winston said the cash infusion will help it pay down debt, while Kinross said it saw an opportunity to invest in a complimentary metal at an attractive price. Kinross shares edged 55 cents lower to $22.59 while Harrry Winston shares soared $1.47 or 64% to $3.75.
The financial sector was flat but Manulife Financial declined 33 cents to $14.40.
The tech sector rose as Research in Motion Ltd. improved 64 cents to $52.90.
Lawyers for Nortel Networks Corp. are to appear in court on Friday to ask that eight senior executives be allowed to receive bonuses under a program that the company says is needed to boost falling morale at the company. The company wants executives to be allowed to receive a share of $23 million U.S. that has already been approved for a group of 84 employees. Its shares were off half a cent to 9.5 cents.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.26 cents to 80.91 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, 11 were higher, health-care stocks rising a robust 1.8%, metals and mining up 1.2% and information technology clicking 1.1% higher.
The two laggards were gold, slouching 1.0%, and materials, fairly flat, but down 0.02%.
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 9.21 points to 894.36, while the Nasdaq Canada index was 5.69 points up, at 442.10
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials average picked up 50.73 points to 7,451.53. The S&P 500 also advanced 4.20 points to 788.24, while the Nasdaq marched ahead 15.54 points to 1,499.02
Indexes are ending the week higher partly because of the rally ignited last week after financial services giant Citigroup and Bank of America reported they were profitable in the first two months of the year.
Investors were also energized by Wednesday's announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it would pump more than $1 trillion U.S. into the economy. The plan includes buying up to $300 billion U.S. in long-term government bonds during the next six months to force down borrowing costs.
However, concern later set in that the measures could lead to some damaging consequences, including driving down the value of the dollar and sending inflation higher.
In corporate news, mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday warned it expects to post a first-quarter loss before taxes as consumer demand continues to decline.
Printer and copier maker Xerox Corp. slashed its first-quarter profit forecast by nearly 80% on restructuring costs and a slowdown in technology spending. Xerox now expects earnings per share in a range of three cents to five cents, down from its previous forecast of 16 cents to 20 cents U.S. Its shares fell 41 cents to $4.93 U.S.
Blockbuster Inc. suffered a fourth-quarter loss of $360 million U.S. to conclude another difficult year, but the struggling video rental chain has lined up critical financing to buy it more time to adapt to ever-fiercer competition from the Internet and cable services.
And Italian automaker Fiat has contradicted a statement from Chrysler's chief executive that the Italian automaker would be responsible for 35% of Chrysler's debt to the U.S. government should a proposed alliance go through. In a statement, Fiat said it "intends to make absolutely clear that the proposed alliance will not entail the assumption of any current or future indebtedness to Chrysler."
The April oil contract in New York fell 86 cents to $50.75 U.S. a barrel
The April bullion contract in New York moved down $8 to $950.80 U.S. an ounce.