Feb. 11, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
The Toronto stock market moved higher Thursday on rising commodity stocks and some relief over a European Union deal to help Greece manage its growing debt crisis.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index greeted noon 75.64 points up to 11,361.97.
The financial sector was down amid investor disappointment with earnings from Canada's big life insurance companies.
Sun Life Financial shares fell $1.26 to $30.10 after it said on Thursday that quarterly profit more than doubled to $296 million or 52 cents a share in the last quarter of 2009. However, that's less than the 65 cents a share that analysts expected.
Manulife Financial Corp. says it had an $868-million profit in the fourth quarter, the equivalent of 51 cents per common share. That's an improvement from a year-earlier loss of $1.87-billion, or $1.24 per share and its shares moved down 63 cents to $18.87.
Earnings from Great-West Lifeco Inc. will also be released during the day and its shares were down 32 cents to $26.18.
Elsewhere in the sector, Bank of Montreal rose 42 cents to $53.30.
The March copper contract was ahead four cents to $3.03 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector advanced almost two per cent. Teck Resources ran ahead $1.63 to $37.17 while HudBay Minerals rose 55 cents to $13.
Among gold issues, Barrick Gold Corp. gained 48 cents to $38.38.
The TSX energy sector was down slightly as Suncor Energy declined 49 cents to $30.76.
Canada's largest natural gas producer, EnCana Corp., saw its fourth-quarter profit fall 41 per cent as lower natural gas prices took a bite out of its top line. EnCana, which split off its oil division last year as Cenovus earned a fourth-quarter profit of $636 million, compared to $1.08 billion in the same period a year ago.
Stripping out the impact of the oil assets that were spun off into Cenovus, EnCana said operating earnings fell to 50 cents per share from 73 cents. Its shares moved 18 cents higher to $32.65.
Cenovus also handed in its first earnings report since being spun off from EnCana, showing that the company had net income of $24 million and operating earnings of $152 million in the fourth quarter. Its shares climbed 20 cents to $24.94.
On the retail front, shares in Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd. fell $3.01 to $52.15 after it reported that its net income for the fourth quarter came in at $96.2 million, down from $101.5 million a year earlier. Operating revenue in the 13 weeks ended Jan. 2 was $2.44 billion, down from $2.59 billion in a 14-week quarter ended year earlier.
Yellow Pages Income Fund said its net income in the fourth quarter rose 24% to $124.6 million or five cents a share. However the Montreal-based publisher of advertising directories added that its fourth-quarter revenue fell 4.7 per cent compared with a year earlier to $405.7 million. Its units rose 17 cents to $5.35.
Sierra Wireless Inc. shares tumbled $2.23 or 17.85% to $10.24 after the company reported a loss of $2.7 million U.S. in its latest quarter, weighed down by restructuring costs and the costs of integrating its Wavecom acquisition. The results and the company's earnings guidance missed analyst expectations.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the New Housing Price Index rose 0.4% in December, the same increase as reported in November.
The Canadian dollar progressed 1.14 cents to 95.19 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight were higher by noon time. Metals and mining led the festivities, up 3.7%, materials being next at 2.6% and gold ahead 2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by real-estate stocks, down 0.6%, consumer discretionaries, off 0.4%, and consumer staples, sliding 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 11.67 points to 1,488.45, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved ahead 13.70 points to 735.62.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities rose Thursday after a choppy start as investors welcomed signs of improvement in the labour and housing markets, but remained cautious amid a lack of clarity on how European leaders plan to help debt-ridden Greece.
The Dow Jones industrial average had regained 81.85 points by midday to 10,120.23. The S&P 500 index recovered 7.08 points to 1,075.21 and the Nasdaq composite regained 25.21 points to 2,173.08.
Stocks slid in the early morning, turned mixed in mid-morning, before turning higher around midday. Stocks have been seesawing the 10,000 mark on the Dow this week as investors have shown caution after big selloffs in January and early February.
Between the rally high on Jan. 19 and the low hit last week, the S&P 500 fell 9.2%, getting close to the 10% decline that is the technical definition of a correction.
Stocks fell Wednesday on concerns about the Greek debt situation, the strong dollar and the Federal Reserve's plan to withdraw some of the trillions of dollars it has used to bolster the nation's financial system.
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have all declined the past four weeks, as investors have overlooked improved quarterly profits and some positive signs in the economic reports.
Markets remain vulnerable to a pullback following last year's big rally, in which the S&P 500 gained 23%. Between bottoming at a 12-year low in March of 2009 and the end of the year, the S&P 500 gained 65%.
Overseas, European leaders have reached a deal to help debt-ridden Greece avoid defaulting on its debt, although details were not expected to be finalized until next week.
The intervention marks the first time the 16-nation bloc that shares the euro currency has had to bail out a member since the currency zone was created 11 years ago. The deal is expected to involve some form of loans.
Worries that a Greek default would spread to other debt-ridden European nations and destabilize the euro have dragged on global markets for weeks. Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain are also heavily debt-laden.
The panic caused a flight from risk, with investors dumping the euro, U.S. stocks and commodities, and putting money into the dollar and government debt.
Boston Scientific reported a smaller quarterly loss versus a year earlier on higher quarterly sales. The medical device maker also announced a restructuring, including a cut of between 8% and 10% of its workforce. Shares fell 10% in unusually active New York Stock Exchange trading.
Power company FirstEnergy said it is buying Allegheny Energy in an all-stock deal worth $4.7 billion U.S. Shares of Allegheny rallied 10% in active New York Stock Exchange trading.
On the economic front, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims dropped to 440,000 in the week ended Feb. 6, which was lower than expected and a decline from the prior week.
Jobless claims were expected to total 465,000 in the week ended Feb. 6, according to a consensus of economists' forecasts from Briefing.com. Claims totaled 483,000 the prior week, according to revised figures.
A separate report showed foreclosure filings fell almost 10% in January versus the previous month. However the report from Realty Trac also showed that filings rose 15% from a year earlier.
Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.73% from 3.64% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil stepped ahead 53 cents to $75.05 U.S.
Gold prices added $17 to $1,093 U.S.