Feb. 17, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks moved higher for a sixth session in mid-morning deals Wednesday, with gauges of most sectors hovering in the green.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained upward by 47.41 points to 11,633.78
Encouraging domestic wholesales numbers, U.S. housing starts and industrial production data all helped lift sentiment. Moreover, firm commodity prices also fueled buying interest in commodity stocks.
The Energy Index rose, with Encana Corp adding 1.90%. Canadian Oil Sands was up 1.43%.
Petrominerales gained 2.76% to $27.16 after Macquarie hiked its price target to $27 from C$22.
Among financial plays, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce gained 2.10%.
Sun Life Financial snapped its three-day losing streak, adding 1.92%. Manulife Financial Corp. moved up for a second day, gaining 1.52%.
The Gold Index was up Rand Gold moved up 0.84%.
New Gold added 1.60% after announcing the purchase of 70% interest in El Morro SCM and associated rights and assets from a subsidiary of Xstrata Plc for a total cash consideration of $463 million.
Meanwhile, Iamgold Corp slipped 0.69% after reporting fourth-quarter net loss of $0.13 per share, compared to net loss of $0.33 per share last year.
Food distributor Loblaw Companies edged up 0.65% after reporting fourth-quarter net earnings of $0.60 per share, down from $0.70 per share last year.
Internet services provider Tucows Inc. rallied 7.14%. The company reported net earnings of $0.17 per share for 2009, up from $0.03 per share in 2008 and announced that it will repurchase up to $10 million of its common stock.
WestJet Airlines rose 1.73% despite reporting lower fourth-quarter net earnings of $0.14 per share, compared to $0.33 per share last year.
Communications services provider Rogers Communications shed 2.06% even after reporting fourth-quarter net income of $0.51 per share, compared to net loss of $0.22 per share in the year-ago period.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said country's wholesales trade in current dollars increased by 0.7% to $42.80 billion in December, in line with forecasts. The machinery and electronic equipment sector contributed the most to the growth in December. Sales in this sector climbed 1.2% to $8.8 billion.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.10 cents to 95.68 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight were in the green by lunchtime. Financials led the way, gaining 1.3%, followed by a 0.8% surge from real-estate, while health-care issues were 0.7% to the good.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by telecoms, off 1.1%, information technology, skidding 0.7% and metals and mining, down 0.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was treading water, pointing upwards but 0.13 points to 1,520.27, while the Nasdaq Canada index backtracked 6.02 points to 744.16.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks clung to gains near midday Wednesday as a better-than-expected housing report and some upbeat company news were countered by a strong dollar that battered oil, gold prices and stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average greeted midday ahead 32.80 points to 10,301.61. The S&P 500 index had picked up 3.07 points to 1,097.94, and the Nasdaq composite remained afloat 4.34 points to 2,218.53.
Stocks rallied Tuesday after Merck and Barclays released better-than-expected results and commodity prices rose. The Dow gained 1.7% or 170 points, for its biggest one-day point gain since Nov. 9.
Deere & Co. reported higher quarterly earnings that topped estimates on lower revenue that also topped estimates. The heavy equipment maker said that cost-cutting and the benefit of better currency rates helped offset the weak economic environment. Deere also boosted its 2010 sales forecast. Shares gained 5% in morning trading.
Dow component Hewlett-Packard is due to report results after the close of trade Wednesday. The tech behemoth is expected to have earned $1.06 U.S. per share, up 14% from a year ago.
Around 379 companies, or 76% of the S&P 500, have reported results. Currently, results are on track to have risen 208% from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenues are set to rise 8%. Stripping out the recharged financial sector, earnings are set to rise 16% and revenues 3%.
In deal news, Walgreen said it will buy rival drugstore Duane Reade in a deal valued at $1.08 billion U.S. including debt.
Toyota said it plans to install a new brake override system in its cars, and that it will tighten controls on safety, in the aftermath of its recall of millions of autos due to faulty brakes.
However, President Akio Toyoda said he won't testify before Congress at the hearing later this month. Shares of Toyota fell nearly 3%.
Economically speaking, the National Association of Home Builders reported that housing starts jumped 2.8% in January to an annual rate of 591,000, which was more than expected.
Housing starts were expected to have reached an annual rate of 580,000 units in January, according to a Briefing.com consensus of economist forecasts.
Building permits, a measure of houses yet to be built, fell 4.9% to an annual rate of 691,000 units in January, which was better than expected. The rate of permits was expected to have slipped to 620,000 in January.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported import and export prices for January. Import prices rose 1.4% and export prices rose 0.8%, the government said.
Reports on industrial production and capacity utilization were also released before the bell.
Investors will also look to the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting, due out at 2 p.m. ET.
Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.69%, from 3.66% Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil increased 26 cents to $77.27 U.S.
Gold prices dipped four dollars to $1,116 U.S.
