Feb. 22, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks will look to extend an eight-day bull run on Monday and early signals are somewhat positive, as gains among resource stocks may pace Bay Street once again.
In the first half-hour of trading, however, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 11.73 points, to 11,697.56.
Monday is expected to be a quiet day on the corporate front, with few Canadian companies turning in earnings results.
Meanwhile, news of a merger between major U.S. oil service rivals Schlumberger and Smith could generate interest in their Canadian counterparts.
Suncor Energy Inc. announced the completion of its assessment and expected schedule to repair portions of an oil sands upgrader damaged by fire in early February. Repairs are currently underway and the company currently expects the upgrader to return to production in early April.
Boralex Power Income Fund ended its fiscal year 2009 with revenue from energy sales of $102.2 million and earnings of $51.7 million, down $7.1 million and $6.0 million respectively compared to fiscal 2008.
The company said the decrease stems mainly from the shortfall caused by the shutdown of power and steam production at the Dolbeau power station.
Flight training specialist CAE Inc. said it is launching a family of new helicopter mission simulators. The company stated that the first CAE 3000 Series simulator would be available for training by the summer of 2010.
CAE is demonstrating a fixed-based version of the new CAE 3000 Series at Heli-Expo.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.05 cents to 96.20 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, 10 were in positive country to begin the week. Metals and mining stocks surged 1%, followed by energy stocks, up 0.6%, and telecoms, ahead 0.5%.
Information technology vied with gold stocks for worst off among the four laggards, off 0.2% each, while global base metals stumbled 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.43 points to 1,537.33, while the Nasdaq Canada index lost 4.66 points to 751.60.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were set to keep rolling higher Monday, fueled by a merger agreement between oil services companies Schlumberger and Smith International.
The Dow Jones industrial average backpedaled 8.69 points in the early going, to 10,393.66. The S&P 500 index tailed off 1.15 points to 1,108.02, and the Nasdaq composite lost 2.29 points to 2,241.71.
U.S. stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Friday, as investors saw signs of economic normalcy in the Federal Reserve's decision to raise the interest rate it charges banks for emergency loans.
But trading could be volatile this week amid ongoing worries about the outlook for the U.S. economy, the debt situation in Greece and the pace of growth in China.
Schlumberger and Smith International announced early Monday that their boards of directors approved a merger agreement between the two oil services companies. The stock-swap transaction values the deal at $11 billion U.S., based on Friday's closing prices.
The latest survey from the National Association of Business Economics showed that leading economists believe the U.S. recovery will remain firmly on track.
President Obama will propose legislation that would allow the government to block excessive rate hikes by health insurers, an official told CNN.
New restrictions on credit card practices go into effect Monday. The new rules will make it harder for card issuers to raise interest rates on accounts which are paid on time.
Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil increased 20 cents to $80.01 U.S.
Gold prices gave back two dollars to $1,120 U.S.