Feb. 10, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
12:48 pm EST
Traders managed to hold onto their gains by noon Wednesday, still treading carefully amid the massive losses from Tuesday.
In New York, stocks bounced Wednesday morning, following the previous session's selloff, but gains were tentative amid ongoing skepticism about the government's plans to help the banking system and manage the recession.
The S&P TSX Composite Index was still in positive country at midday, up 58.55 points to 8,876.44, despite an earnings warning posted by technology whiz Research in Motion, prompting a sharp drop in share prices.
Investors were discouraged by a lack of details from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on how Washington plans to direct more than $1 trillion U.S. in public and private aid to support the ailing financial system.
RIM shares fell $10.78 or 15% to $60.10 in Toronto even as it disclosed a rise of more than 20% in subscriber additions for the holiday quarter. But the BlackBerry maker added that it will report fourth-quarter profit at the low end of its guidance of 83 to 91 cents U.S. per share on revenue near forecast levels of $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion U.S.
The TSX gold sector was up as Goldcorp Inc. advanced $2.04 to $38.87 while Barrick Gold Corp. climbed $1.86 to $48.05.
The base metals sector ran ahead as Teck Cominco Ltd. was up 17 cents to $5.13 and Ivanhoe Mines ran ahead 34 cents to $4.23.
The TSX energy sector was well off early highs, rising marginally as oil prices picked up after losing $2 on Tuesday. Petro-Canada moved up 33 cents to $28.59 and Suncor Inc. improved 23 cents to $2.79.
The financial sector was up 0.7% with Manulife Financial ahead 24 cents to $20.33.
BCE Inc. posted a fourth-quarter loss of $48 million or six cents per share on investment losses and writedowns. The telecom company also boosted its dividend 5% and its shares were ahead 48 cents to $25.61.
WestJet shares dropped $1 to $12.75 as fourth-quarter profit fell to $40.8 million from $75.4 million.
Fourth-quarter profits at fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. fell to $124 million from $172 million, but its annual profit of $1.3 billion more than tripled its previous record earnings in 2007. Agrium shares rose $2.40 to $48.41.
CAE Inc. rose 32 cents to $7.62 after the Montreal-based global leader in flight simulators reported a 35% climb in quarterly net profit to $53.3 million as revenue rose 23% to $424.6 million.
The Canadian dollar inched ahead 0.15 cents to 80.41 cents U.S..
On the economic front, investors also took in a report showing that Canada recorded a trade deficit of $458 million in December. It is the first such deficit since March 1976 in December as exports and imports both dropped amid a global economic downturn.
Statistics Canada said exports dropped 9.7% while imports fell 5.7%.
Exports to the United States dropped 10%.
BAYSTREET
Among the 13 TSX sub-groups, 10 charged ahead led by an 8.1% surge in the gold subgroup, followed by materials, ahead 4.6% and metals and mining, up 4.5%.
The three losing groups were led by information technology, off 4.9%, consumer discretionaries, down 0.3% and utilities, slipping 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 9.84 points by lunchtime to 911.63, while the NASDAQ Canada index dipped 68.73 points, to 488.17
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrials index was still ahead 41.73 points by midday to 7,930.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 4.48 points to 831.64, while the NASDAQ composite index was up 4.05 to 1,528.78.
Trade data from the United States was equally dramatic as in Canada. The trade deficit fell 4% to $39.9 billion U.S., to the lowest level in nearly six years in December as the recession depressed demand for imports.
Investors are also awaiting a resolution on a more-than-$800-billion U.S. economic stimulus package that passed in the Senate on Tuesday. Republican and Democratic leaders are still at odds over how much money should be directed to certain programs. The final version of the bill is expected to reach President Barack Obama's desk within days.
In company news, Applied Materials cautioned late Tuesday that chipmakers will spend 50% less this year for its products. The company also posted a fiscal first-quarter loss of nearly $133 million U.S. and said it will cut 14% of its workforce, or about 2,000 jobs.
Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.84% from 2.81% Tuesday.
U.S. light crude oil for March delivery rose seven cents to $37.62 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were volatile after the government's weekly supply report showed a bigger-than-expected build in crude supplies.
COMEX gold for April delivery rose $33.80 to $948.00 U.S. an ounce.