Cheery projections from IMF
Apr. 21, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Bay Street stocks dropped into negative territory in mid-morning deals Wednesday, although financial, gold and information technology stocks turning in particularly strong performances. The S&P/TSX Composite Index approached noon behind 32.87 points at 12,080.66. Encouraging earnings reports from EnCana Corp and Teck Resources helped lift sentiment. Also, the continued flow of improved earnings reports from south of the border supported trader sentiment. In line with recent earnings reports from major financial companies, Morgan Stanley today reported first quarter net earnings of $0.99 per share, beating consensus estimates of $0.57 per share by a notable margin. Earnings reports from JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citibank and Goldman Sachs, released in the past few days, came in better-than-estimated. In the financial space, Scotiabank rose 0.92% and National Bank of Canada gained 0.52%. Among gold stocks, Barrick Gold and Anglo Gold were up nearly 1% each. Yesterday, Apple Inc. reported quarterly earnings of $3.33 per share, up from $1.79 per share in the year ago period. Apple said it sold a record 8.8 million of its popular iPhone smart phones, more than double the number sold a year ago. Blackberry maker Research In Motion moved up 0.86% and Open Text added 1.57%. Natural resources company Teck Resources was up 0.55% after reporting first-quarter net earnings of $1.53 per share, compared to $0.50 per share in the same quarter last year. The Energy Index edged down, as oil and natural gas company EnCana Corp. eased 0.38% even after reporting improved first-quarter net earnings of $1.97 per share, up from $1.28 per share in the year ago quarter. The company attributed the increase to a $912 million gain from its hedging program. It said it will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share. Analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of $0.33 per share this quarter, excluding special items. Producer of platinum group metals North American Palladio shed 5.36% to $4.94 after it announced plans to sell at least 15 million units at $5.00 per unit. Communications network company Aastra Technologies plummeted 16.02%. The company reported lower first quarter net earnings of $0.28 per share, compared to $1.02 per share in the previous year quarter. Growth in Canada's economy will surpass the Group of Seven countries in 2010 and 2011, the International Monetary Fund said today in its World Economic Outlook report. It noted that the country's economy will grow 3.1% in 2010 and 3.2% in 2011. The Canadian dollar remained stronger than its American cousin, though doffing 0.03 cents at noon hour to $1.0004 U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower by midday. Global base metals proved the biggest downer, losing 2.1%, followed by metals and mining issues, off 1.3%, and energy stocks, trailing Tuesday's close by 0.9%. The four gainers were led by real-estate, up 0.8%, consumer discretionaries, up 0.3% and financials, inching up 0.1%. The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.28 points to 1,650.92, while the Nasdaq Canada index stepped back 5.73 points to 792.13. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks reversed gains Wednesday on mixed reports in the technology sector, in addition to results from several blue-chip Dow index components. The Dow Jones industrial average tailed off 8.01 points at lunch time to 11,109.05. The S&P 500 index skidded 2.63 points to 1,204.54. The Nasdaq composite index moved down 5.15 points to 2,495.16. Stocks finished Tuesday's session in positive territory, thanks to better-than-expected earnings from Goldman Sachs and several consumer companies. Late Tuesday, iPod and Mac maker Apple posted a record quarter that blew past Wall Street's estimates. Apple shares rose 5% in early trading. Yahoo also delivered earnings that beat expectations, but its sales came in below estimates. Shares fell 5% in early trading. On Wednesday, Morgan Stanley said it swung to a $1.8-billion U.S. profit in the first quarter Wednesday before the bell, as strong trading revenue boosted the Wall Street firm's latest results. Shares of Morgan were up about 4%. Wells Fargo reported a $2.5-billion U.S. profit before the bell, beating Wall Street expectations. The company said that credit conditions have "turned the corner" from the weakness of the financial crisis. Wells shares rose 1.5%. Overall, the finance sector was up 10.4% in morning trade. In addition to banks, investors digested quarterly results from several Dow components ahead of the bell, including: AT&T, which beat estimates on a boost from strong sales of Apple's iPhone; Boeing, whose profit and revenue dropped amid fewer airplane deliveries; McDonalds, whose earnings rose above predictions as sales rose across all its markets, especially Europe and Asia; United Technologies, which also beat estimates. Also, Chrysler announced that it earned its first operating profit since exiting bankruptcy on June 10, 2009. The profit follows nearly $4 billion U.S. of losses logged by the automaker during that time. The results will continue after the markets close, with coffee chain Starbucks and other major names reporting results. General Motors announced in the morning that it had made a final payment of $5.8 billion U.S. late Tuesday to the U.S. and Canadian governments, paying off the last of its $6.7 billion U.S. in loans. Treasury prices jumped, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.75% from 3.81% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil gave back 45 cents to $83.40 U.S. Gold prices gained two dollars to $1,141 U.S. an ounce.
