Apr. 12, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks may struggle for direction Monday morning amid mixed cues. The S&P/TSX Composite Index came out of the starting blocks ahead 32.17 points to 12,209.01. While the recently announced EUR-30-billion bailout package for the Greece may lift sentiment, continued weakness in the price of oil may put pressure on energy stocks and spoil the party. Banking stocks may be in focus after UBS reported the highest quarterly profits in almost three years. The bank reported $2.4 billion pretax profit for the first quarter. In corporate news, oil and gas explorer Ithaca Energy swung to profit in 2009, reporting net income of $0.05 per share versus a loss of $0.23 per share in the year-ago period. Looking ahead for 2010, the company aims to produce an average of 5,100 barrels of oil per day, as against 4,042 barrels a day in 2009. Oil and gas industry services provider High Arctic Energy Services said it will be issuing nearly 170 million shares in settlement of outstanding debt to various creditors. Liquid bulk storage and transporter World Point Terminals said it will acquire World Point Holdings, Inc. In brokerage updates, RBC trimmed its rating on Yellow Pages Income Fund to a "Sector perform" from an "Outperform." RBC initiated coverage of Lake Shore Gold with an "Outperform" rating Raymond James Reduced its price target on Suncor Energy to $41 from $43. In economic news, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said the seasonally annual rate of housing starts dipped by 1.5% to 197,000 units in March, after having gained in the past two months. The Canadian dollar slumped 0.18 cents to 99.43 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher to begin the week. Health-care stocks led the gainers, up 0.8%, while materials surged 0.5%, while metals and mining gained 0.4%. The two laggards were information technology and consumer discretionary stocks, each up 0.1%. The TSX Venture Exchange put on 9.26 points to begin the day at 1,689.83, while the Nasdaq Canada index tailed off 0.62 points to 779.30. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks moved just a tad above the breakeven Monday, losing momentum after an influential economists' group said it was too soon to declare an end to the recession. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 19.12 points at the outset to 11,016.47 The S&P 500 was up 3.21 points to 1,197.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq added 4.31 points to 2,458.36. U.S. stocks rose to multi-month highs Friday amid restored economic confidence. The blue-chip Dow briefly touched 11,000, but closed slightly below that milestone. The panel of economists responsible for identifying changes in the U.S. business cycle said Monday that it is "premature" to say whether the recession that began in 2007 has ended. Nations that use the euro are prepared to offer loans at below-market interest rates to Greece if it should need a lifeline. The finance ministers of the euro zone pledged to commit up to $40 billion U.S. in loans to Greece if it were to request a bailout. Aluminum producer Alcoa gets the corporate earnings reporting period off to an unofficial start after U.S. markets close. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect Alcoa to report earnings per share of 10 cents U.S. versus a loss of 59 cents U.S. a year ago. Overall, first-quarter earnings are expected to have risen nearly 37% over the year-ago period, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue is forecast to have risen 10%. Other major companies reporting this week include tech names Intel and Google, as well as banking heavyweights JPMorgan and Bank of America. Economically speaking, the March Treasury budget, due in the afternoon, is expected to show a surplus of $67.5 billion U.S., versus a deficit of $191.6 billion U.S. in February, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. U.S. Treasurys gained a bit of ground, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.87% from Friday's 3.89%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil tacked on 32 cents to $85.24 U.S. Gold prices were flat at $1,162 U.S. an ounce.