Feb. 4, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
10:24 am EST
Equities were on the march on Wednesday, with even the mighty Dow hinting at a rise in the early going, despite poor quarterly results from the media industry.
The S&P TSX Composite Index gained 37.5 points to get things going, climbing to 8,666.17.
ING Canada Inc. fell as much as 16% after parent ING Groep NV said it plans to sell its 70% stake in Canada's largest property and casualty insurer to shore up its balance sheet. ING Canada fell $5.11, or 15%, to $28.68 in early trading.
The TSX energy sector climbed, as Suncor Inc. gained 26 cents to $23.79.
The gold sector also rose, with Goldcorp Inc. ahead 89 cents to $35.69.
The base metals sector climbed 1% as Teck Cominco Ltd. advanced 14 cents to $4.65.
Shares in HudBay Minerals Inc. were eight cents higher to $4.83 after the company said that the unions at its operations in Flin Flon and Snow Lake, Man., have voted to ratify new three-year collective agreements effective Jan. 1, 2009.
Among financials, Scotiabank was off 37 cents to $29.82.
Shares in Research In Motion slipped 35 cents to $67.92 after top executives reached a deal to settle a dispute with the Ontario Securities Commission over the company's past stock option practices.
The OSC will hold a hearing Thursday to consider the settlement that includes co-chief executives Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis and several other executives and directors. The OSC has accused RIM and several individuals, including Balsillie and Lazaridis, of receiving back-dated stock options.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. shares were down five cents to $10.61 after it said Tuesday that it plans to restate and refile its 2007 consolidated annual financial statements to lower its earnings due to an understatement of future tax costs related to the sale of its animal nutrition business.
The company said it will report earnings for the year ended Dec. 31, 2007 of $194.9 million or $1.50 per diluted share, down from previously reported earnings of $207.1 million or $1.59 per diluted share.
Railpower Technologies Corp., Quebec-based maker of eco-friendly locomotives, says it is seeking court protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Its U.S. subsidiary, Railpower Hybrid Technologies Corp., is also seeking creditor protection. Its shares plunged 1.5 cents to 6.5 cents.
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.17 cents to $81.34 cents U.S.
BAYSTREET
Ten of the 13 TSX sub-groups started off on the right foot, climbing on the shoulders of materials, moving up 2.9%, metals and mining, 2.4% better and gold, 2.2% shinier.
The three laggards were financials, off 0.4%, consumer staples, down 0.2%, and real estate, off about 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was 7.97 points stronger, to 877.22, while the NASDAQ Canada index was one point ahead, at 548.45
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrials index was off slightly in the first half-hour, 3.66 points to 8,074.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 3.63 points to 842.14. The NASDAQ composite index picked up 8.8 points to 1,525.10
Economically speaking, two days before the release of January employment data, the latest ADP Employment Report in the U.S. showed that 522,000 jobs were lost in January. That is in line with consensus forecasts.
Time Warner Inc. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $16 billion U.S. after the media conglomerate wrote down the value of its cable, publishing and AOL assets. Analysts had predicted a profit.
The disappointing report followed Walt Disney Co.'s late Tuesday announcement that its profit last quarter dropped 32% – more than the market anticipated.
Kraft Foods posted earnings that fell just short of expectations. The company said that diluted earnings, excluding charges, fell 2% in the fourth quarter to 43 cents U.S. per share, compared to the year-earlier quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast 44 cents per share.
Shares of Kraft, a Dow stock, fell 9%.
Costco Wholesale Corp. said its profit for the quarter ending in February will "substantially" miss Wall Street estimates due to poor sales and margins. Same store sales declined two per cent and the retailer now expects earnings for its fiscal second quarter to miss the consensus estimate of 70 cents U.S. per share.
It also said it will not provide earnings guidance for the rest of the fiscal year and its shares fell $3.60 to $42.52 U.S.
Panasonic Corp. is slashing 15,000 jobs and shutting down 27 plants worldwide to cope with plunging demand for its TVs, semiconductors and other electronics products.
It also announced a net loss of 63.1 billion yen or $709 million U.S. for the October-December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss of 380 billion yen or $4.2 billion U.S., its first annual loss in six years.
Oil prices rose 65 cents to $41.43 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold opened ahead $11.50 to $904.00 U.S. an ounce.