Feb. 3, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks may pause for a breather Wednesday after the main index rallied nearly 3% in the past two sessions, recovering its previous week's losses. During the first hour or so of trading, though, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was still positive, gaining 32.64 points to 11,440.98 The price of crude oil has failed to move up convincingly after hitting a two-week high in the previous session, ahead of inventories data from the U.S. Also, traders were digesting mixed clues form the earnings reports so far released from major oil companies, including Suncor and Imperial. In corporate news, integrated oil company Imperial Oil announced that its fourth-quarter net income fell to $0.62 per share from $0.76 for the same period of 2008. Meanwhile, oil and natural gas distributor Enbridge Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings applicable to common shareholders increased to $0.80 per share from $0.71 per share in the prior year period. Further, it announced a quarterly dividend increase of 15% to $0.425 per common share effective March 1, 2010. In brokerage updates, Goldman Sachs added Canadian Natural Resources to conviction buy list, while removing Suncor Energy from the list. In M&A space, Maxam Opportunities Fund backed away from its bid to acquire merchant banker C.A. Bancorp as the latter demanded $1.60 per share, against the $1.48 offer. On Tuesday, C.A. Bancorp stock closed at $1.41. In news bullish to potash miners, Russian based distributor Belarusian Potash said it has hiked potash prices in tandem with the recovery in demand. Gold miner Iamgold Corp. announced plans to hike its gold output to about one million ounces in 2010 from the 0.93 million ounces in 2009, helped by new mine at Burkina Faso. Semiconductor maker Mosaid Technologies announced plans to sell at least 1.25 million shares at $21.65 a share. Biotechnology company Labopharm said it got approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its antidepressant, enabling its release later this year. Data mining software solutions provider Angoss Software reported fourth-quarter net loss and comprehensive loss of $0.01 per share, compared to net income of $0.03 per share in the prior year. The Canadian dollar slid 0.02 cents to 94.46 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight were in negative country to begin the day. Financial, industrial and telecom stocks were in a dead heat for the biggest loss at 0.3% each. The half-dozen gainers were led upward by materials' 1.1% surge, while gold picked up 0.7% and real-estate prospered 0.5%. The TSX Venture Exchange was 0.56 points better at 1,517.63, while the Nasdaq Canada index was ahead 9.60 points to 725.73. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks churned in uneasy trading Wednesday morning as investors showed caution after a two-day rally amid questions about the outlook for the labour market. The Dow Jones industrial average subsided 8.16 points to 10,288.69. The S&P 500 index slid 2.47 points to 1,100.85. The Nasdaq composite gave back 0.06 points to 2,190. A rally on Wall Street helped the blue-chip Dow post its second straight gain of more than 100 points on Tuesday. Stocks have gained recently amid solid earnings and signs of stabilization in the economy. Two reports on employment came out before U.S. markets opened Wednesday. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that January job cuts surged to a five-month high of 71,482. But the ADP payroll report showed a decline in job cuts, to a loss of 22,000 jobs in January, compared to the revised loss of 61,000 jobs in December. Thursday brings the weekly jobless claims report, while Friday brings the big monthly report. Time Warner reported sales and earnings that rose from a year ago, in its first quarterly report without AOL in a decade. The media company benefited from strength in its TV and movie divisions, as well as some cost cutting at its Time Inc. brand. Shares fell 1% in morning trading. AOL -- in its first quarter in a decade as a stand-alone Internet firm -- said it swung to a profit of $1.4 billion U.S. from a loss of $1.9 billion U.S. a year ago. Shares were little changed. News Corp. reported quarterly earnings and revenue that jumped from a year earlier and topped expectations in a report released after the close Tuesday. Shares gained 5% Wednesday morning. Troubles keep growing for Toyota Motor. U.S. federal investigators are looking into whether electronics caused the problem with the automaker's recalled gas pedals. Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.68% from Tuesday's 3.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil went up 13 cents to $77.36 U.S. Gold prices docked five dollars to $1,113 U.S.