Mar. 25, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Boosted by a recovery in commodities prices and positive cues from the euro zone, Canadian stocks were hovering in the green in mid-morning deals Thursday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index approached noon higher by 79.28 points to 12,042.25 The euro snapped back from a 10-month low versus the dollar, boosting commodities prices after the ECB President announced that the bank will extend its emergency collateral rules beyond this year. Base metals stocks were in the limelight, with the index adding strength. Ivanhoe Mines was up 2.41%. Wednesday, the company said it would consider spinning off its 50%-owned Altynalmas Gold venture. Teck Resources gained 1.18%. Among IT stocks, Celestica Inc rose 1.63%. Infrastructure technology company Pure Technologies added 2.22% after posting improved fourth-quarter net income of $0.07 per share, compared with $0.02 per share in the same quarter last year. In the financial space, Intact Financial rose 1.14%. Meanwhile, insurance and financial services company Industrial Alliance Insurance eased 0.26% after it said it may spend as much as $750 million for acquisitions in U.S. and Canada over the next five years. Athletic apparel maker lululemon athletica rallied 11.41% after reporting huge growth in its fourth quarter net income at $0.40 per share compared to $0.16 per share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting the company to report $0.29 per share for the quarter. Canadian National Railways rose 1.93% after Macquarie upped its rating on the stock to an "Outperform" from a "Neutral". Independent power producer Maxim Power was up 0.90% despite reporting a lower fourth-quarter net income of $0.01 per share, compared to $0.15 per share last year. Oil explorer Crocotta Energy edged up 0.75% after it swung to profit in the fourth quarter, reporting net earnings of $0.05 per share, compared to net loss of $0.07 per share last year. Explorer West Energy eased 0.59% after reporting a wider net loss for the fourth quarter at $0.03 per share, compared to a loss of $0.03 per share in the year-ago quarter. Precious metal explorer Shore Gold slipped 2.11% even after reporting a narrower full year net loss of $0.04 per share, compared to a loss of $2.48 per share a year earlier. Online technology solutions provider CYBERplex Inc. plummeted 15.84% after reporting lower comprehensive income for the fourth quarter of $0.02 per share, compared to $0.09 per share in the year-ago quarter. The Canadian dollar vaulted 0.7 cents to 98.11 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups remained in the green at lunch time. Industrials surged 1.7%, while information technology soared 1.5% and financials were 0.9% richer. The two laggards were health-care, 0.3% off, and gold, 0.2% less shiny. The TSX Venture Exchange surmounted yesterday's close by 7.58 points to 1,559. The Nasdaq Canada index tacked on 8.37 points to 804.02. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks climbed Thursday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hitting fresh 18-month highs, after Best Buy's improved earnings, an easing of global debt worries and a drop in weekly jobless claims. The Dow Jones industrial average took on 93.86 points by midday to 10,930.01. The S&P 500 index progressed 11.45 points to 1,179.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq surged 30.44 points to 2,417.56. Stocks fell Wednesday after Fitch's downgrade of Portugal's debt increased worries about euro zone debt issues, sending the dollar higher. However, the trend has been largely to the upside over the last few weeks, with the major gauges rising in five of the last six weeks, pushing the Dow industrials closer to 11,000, a key psychological level. Worries about a Greek default were further cooled Thursday following a series of developments ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels. Germany said it was willing to back aid for Greece with the International Monetary Fund's involvement, although only as a last resort. Also, Greece and Spain called for the EU to create a bailout fund to provide cheap loans to struggling member nations. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank extended looser funding rules. Worries about a euro zone debt crisis were exacerbated Wednesday after ratings agency Fitch lowered Portugal's debt rating. Like Greece, Portugal is one of the five euro zone nations with serious debt problems. Ireland, Italy and Spain are the other three. Dubai's government said it will inject $9.5 billion U.S. in funding into Dubai World and its property development arm Nakheel as part of a long-in-the-works restructuring plan. Even with the infusion, Dubai World will still owe its creditors more than $14 billion U.S. Global markets were rocked in November when the city-state, the most populous of the seven United Arab Emirates, requested a freeze on $26 billion U.S. in debt payments, raising worries that it would default. The $9.5-billion U.S. infusion was seen a step in the right direction. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking before a House committee Thursday said that the economy still needs assistance, but that the central bank will have to tighten credit to manage inflation at some point in the future. Bernanke was speaking before the House Financial Services Committee as part of a hearing on how the Fed plans to withdraw the emergency funding programs put in place at the height of the financial crisis. Best Buy, the electronics retailer, reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates thanks to stronger sales of high-ticket items like notebook computers and flat-panel TVs. Best Buy shares rose 6.7% in morning trading. On the economic front, the Department of Labor said the number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level in six weeks. There were 442,000 claims last week, down 14,000 from a revised 456,000 in the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected initial claims to fall slightly to 450,000. Continuing claims, which reflect people who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, dropped to 4,648,000 during the week ending March 13, from 4,725,500 in the previous week. The price of the benchmark 10-year note dropped again, lifting yields to 3.86% from Wednesday's 3.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Investors will keep an eye on a $32-billion U.S. auction of seven-year notes later in the day -- particularly after a tepid response to Wednesday's auction of $42 billion U.S. in five-year notes. The price of a barrel of oil moved up 49 cents to $81.10 U.S. Gold prices moved three dollars higher to $1,092 U.S.
