Feb. 9, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks stormed out to early gains and remain firmly positive in mid-morning deals Tuesday amid widespread buying.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index zoomed ahead 154.89 points, or 1.4%, by lunchtime to 11,270.19.
Marginal strength in commodity prices and speculation that Greece will get European help to tackle its budget deficit helped lift investor sentiment. Moreover, value buying at lower levels after the main index gave in nearly 3% in the past four sessions also aided upsurges.
Base metal stocks continued to be in the limelight, with Inmet Mining jumped 5.43% after announcing that it has swung to profit in fourth quarter. First Quantum Minerals gathered nearly 6%.
Natural resources explorer Teck Resources gained 4.67%. The company swung to profit in the fourth quarter by reporting net earnings of $0.70 per share, compared to a loss of $1.28 per share in the same period last year.
The Gold Index was up, as Anglo Gold gained 3.58% and Rand Gold rose 3.91%.
Among financials stocks, Bank of Nova Scotia edged up 0.99% and National Bank of Canada added 0.90%.
Fertilizer maker Agrium moved up 4.61% even after reporting that its fourth-quarter net income decreased to $0.19 per share from $0.79 per share last year.
Natural gas distributor Pacific Northern Gas added 1.40% after announcing fourth quarter net income of $0.93 per share, compared to $0.84 in the previous-year quarter. The company also increased first quarter 2010 dividend on common shares by 12% to $0.28 per share.
Husky Energy edged up 0.11% after it said it has discovered huge gas resources off China's coast and mulls spinoff its Asian operations.
Coal miner Western Coal Corp. rallied 9.21% even after announcing that its third-quarter net income dipped to $0.09 per share from $0.29 per share in the prior-year period.
Bombardier Inc was up 1.12%. Reportedly, the company plans to sell as much as $1 billion of U.S. dollar denominated senior notes mainly to refinance debt maturing in the next two to four years.
WestJet Airlines gained 1.71% after Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage of the stock with an "outperform" rating.
On the other hand, Automation Tooling Systems slipped 1.79% after it said its third-quarter consolidated net income from continuing operations plummeted to $3.7 million from $15.8 million a year earlier.
Among technology plays, Research In Motion gave in 0.67% and Open Text shed 1.39%.
The Canadian dollar recouped 0.57 cents to 93.58 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups remained ahead of the game by noon. Global base metals surged 4.7%, while metals and mining stocks were in a dead heat with gold, gaining 4.1%.
The three laggards were real-estate, off 0.8%, information technology, down 0.1%, and utilities, skidding an even slighter 0.01%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 11.47 points to 1,472.07, while the Nasdaq Canada index gave back 0.58 points to 715.14.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities soared Tuesday, recovering from the previous session's selloff, as investors grew optimistic that a recovery package for debt-burdened Greece may be close.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 122.59 points, or 1.2%, in early trading to 10,030.98.
The S&P 500 index rose 11.11 points to 1,067.85 and the Nasdaq composite leaped 19.59 points to 2,145.64.
Europe's debt crisis rattled Wall Street on Monday, dragging the Dow down 1% to close below 10,000 for the first time since early November.
But fears eased Tuesday after reports that European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet would return early from a meeting in Australia to meet with European Union leaders, with the possibility of a rescue plan for debt-ridden Greece on the agenda.
The speculation sent European stocks higher and restored confidence in the euro, taking momentum out of the dollar's recent rally. The greenback slipped 0.7% against the euro and 0.3% versus the pound.
But the buck continued to strengthen against the yen, rising 0.2%. In Asia, the Nikkei finished the session in negative territory but Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.2%.
Economically speaking, investors shrugged off a report released after the start of trading that showed wholesale inventories fell 0.8% in December after rising 1.5% in November. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought inventories would edge up 0.5%.
Following its recalls totaling 8.1 million vehicles for accelerator problems, troubled automaker Toyota Motor announced another global recall involving 437,000 hybrids, including the 2010 Prius, for problems in their anti-lock braking systems software.
Dow component Coca-Cola reported a fourth-quarter profit that surged 55% from a year earlier to $1.54 billion U.S., or 66 cents U.S. per share, in line with analysts' expectations.
The Atlanta-based company's sales climbed 5.3% to $7.51 billion U.S. during the quarter.
Economists surveyed by earnings tracker Thomson Reuters expected revenue to only grow 1%.
Shares of Coca-Cola rose 3.5% in early trading.
Media conglomerate Walt Disney, another Dow component, reports its quarterly earnings after the markets close Tuesday. Disney is expected to have earned 39 cents U.S. per share, down almost 5% from 41 cents U.S. a year earlier.
Sales are expected to rise 1% to $9.7 billion U.S.
Treasury prices tumbled, raising yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.61% from Monday's 3.59%.
The price of a barrel of oil prospered $1.54 to $73.43 U.S.
Gold prices gained $15 to $1,081 U.S.
