Apr. 14, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks were enjoying life in positive terrain in mid-morning deals Wednesday amid mixed performances among the sectors. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 76.69 points by noon to 12,178.21 Recovering commodities prices, upbeat earnings reports and encouraging retail sales data from across the border helped lift sentiment. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was retesting its parity with the U.S. dollar, hovering near its 22-month high. Among financial stocks, Bank of Montreal gained 0.94% and Canadian Western Bank rose 1.54%. RBC and TD Bank moved up nearly 1% each. Among base metals stocks, First Quantum Minerals gathered 1.73% and Hudbay Minerals added 2.41%. The price of gold recovered after losing in the past two sessions. In the gold space, Agnico Eagle Mines gained 0.65%. Barrick Gold edged up 0.12% after it said Wednesday that a U.S. district court ruled it can continue its mining operations at its gold mine in Nevada. Red Back Mining surged 5.58%. Gold miner Nova Gold Resources added 0.52% after it posted a narrower first-quarter net loss of $0.10 per share, compared to $0.20 per share in the same quarter last year. Gold explorer Osisko Mining edged up 1.43%. The company said it is commencing a friendly offer to acquire precious metals explorer Brett Resources. Brett shareholders will receive 0.34 of an Osisko common share and $0.0001 in cash for each common share of Brett. The latter was up 0.97%. Gold and diamond explorer Etruscan Resources rallied 8.64%. The company turned to profit in the first quarter, reporting net income of $0.01 per share, compared to a loss of $0.23 per share in the year-ago quarter. Among energy stocks, Petrobakken Energy was up 0.66%. Blackberry maker Research In Motion trimmed 0.92%. The company will pay $200 million in cash to acquire QNX Software, Harman International disclosed the terms in a regulatory filing. MacDonald Dettwiler edged up 0.49%. Fertilizer maker Agrium Inc. slipped 4.81%. Media and entertainment company Corus Entertainment was down 1.01%. The company reported a 50% decline in its second-quarter net income at $0.18 per share compared to $0.36 per share in the prior year period. Analysts were expecting the company to report $0.32 a share. While revenues were up 6% this quarter, beating estimates, net income declined due to one-time items. Oil and gas industry services provider Trican Well Service lost 3.38% after it said on Wednesday that it raised $150 million in a bought-deal financing. Oil and gas explorer Zapata Energy gave in 3.96% after announcing plans to raise at least $50 million. The Canadian dollar surpassed its American cousin, gaining 0.55 cents to $1.004 U.S. ON BAYSTREET By noon, all but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher. Toronto was led by financials, up 1.5%, metals and mining, up 1.1%, while gained 0.8%. The four laggards were weighed by health-care stocks, off 0.9%, utilities, down 0.7%, and consumer staples, off 0.3%. The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 5.10 points to 1,670.05, but the Nasdaq Canada index moved 5.92 points higher to 803.44. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks rallied Wednesday, with the Dow industrials rising above 11,000 for the fourth straight session, after JPMorgan Chase and Intel posted strong quarterly results and a report on retail sales came in better than forecast. The Dow Jones industrial average grew 48.14 points at noon to 11,067.56. The S&P 500 index added 6.92 points to 1,204.22, while the Nasdaq composite gained 24.10 points to 2,490.10. The blue-chip Dow and Nasdaq touched fresh 18-month highs Tuesday, but gains were slight as investors mulled the recent stock advance that has pushed the Dow above 11,000 for several sessions. JPMorgan Chase reported a $3.3-billion U.S. profit for the first quarter, though the bank continued to suffer losses in its consumer loan portfolio. The New York City-based bank said it earned 74 cents U.S. a share during the quarter, up 55% from a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 64 cents U.S. a share. Shares of JPMorgan were up almost 3%. JPMorgan kicks off the reporting period for big banks, most of which are expected to post a profitable quarter. This week's reports are tech heavy, and Intel's results could bode well for companies like Google that will report later this week. Economically speaking, the U.S. government's monthly retail sales report and a report on consumer inflation were released before the market opened. Retail sales jumped 1.6% in March, beating estimates from economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Sales excluding autos rose 0.6%, also topping predictions. The Consumer Price Index a measure of consumer inflation, rose 0.1% in March, in line with predictions. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was unchanged. A separate report showed business inventories rose 0.5% in March, slightly higher than the 0.4% jump that was forecast. In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book report of economic conditions. Also, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before a joint session of Congress on the economic outlook beginning at 10 a.m. ET. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note subsided in price, driving the yield up to 3.82% from Tuesday's 3.81%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil regained $1.93 to $85.98 U.S. Gold prices picked up five dollars to $1,159 U.S. an ounce.
