Mar. 25, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
10:30 am EST
Equity markets shook off a downward Tuesday by reversing course and shooting upwards, reassured by new economic figures in the United States.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index resumed its upward mobility, picking up 93.32 in the first half-hour of trading to 8,942.71, only downward pressure by energy stocks preventing a bigger rally.
In morning action, the TSX energy sector was down as Canadian Natural Resources slipped 63 cents to $50.55.
The financial sector pulled ahead as TD Bank rose 42 cents to $44.15. AGF Management Ltd. slipped three cents to $8.26 after its first-quarter profit fell by 80% from a year earlier to $12.2 million.
The TSX base-metals sector moved ahead, as Teck Cominco Ltd. added 48 cents to $7.26.
The Toronto gold sector was flat.
Elsewhere in corporate news, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says Magna International, owner of upstate New York auto-parts maker New Process Gear, has agreed to discuss a last-minute aid package that could keep the plant from closing. Magna shares rose 11 cents to $34.12.
CGI Group Inc. shares were down four cents to $9.71 after the company got a 10-year, $182-million contract to manage information technology infrastructure for the Foresters life insurance organization.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 81.22 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, 10 were ahead, metals and mining up 2.5%, while real-estate and gold advanced 1.2% each.
The three laggards were energy, down 0.8%, industrials and information technology, sliding 0.1% each.
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 5.48 points soon out of the blocks to 929.77, while the Nasdaq Canada Index moved lower by 5.82 to 452.17
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials average charged ahead 156.11 points to 7,816.06. The S&P 500 index gained 17.14 points to 823.26, while the Nasdaq rocketed 35 points to 1,551.52
In a primetime news conference Tuesday, U.S. President Obama said there would be no "quick fixes" for the recession and that it would take time for the economy to recover.
But he also insisted his administration has a strategy in place to "attack this crisis on all fronts."
Economically speaking, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket goods rose 3.4% last month, much better than the 2% drop that had been expected. It was the first advance since July and the strongest one-month gain in 14 months.
Investors are looking ahead to data later in the morning expected to show that sales of new homes in the United States fell 2.9% last month to a record low.
The stock market rally, spurred by reports of profitability at American financial services company Citigroup, has boosted the TSX main index and the Dow industrials by about 17% from their March 9 trough.
The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.36 to $52.62 U.S. a barrel, ahead of weekly inventory figures from the U.S.
The April bullion contract on the Nymex was ahead $1.20 to $925 U.S. an ounce