Dec. 2, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks have continued to rise on Wednesday as record gold prices have led bullion producers into the green.
At noon, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 38.02 points to 11,745.34.
However, markets are lackluster on both sides of the border even after a key prelude to Friday's pivotal U.S. jobs data hinted the labour market may have bottomed out.
Gold stocks are up as the precious metal has surged toward $1,220 U.S. New Gold has rallied 6.7% and Eldorado is up 4.5%.
Goldcorp Inc. is up 1.8% after the company announced its has agreed to sell Desarrollos Mineros' 21.2% interest in the Morelos gold project in Mexico for to Newstrike Capital Inc. in a deal worth about $52 million.
Agrium rose 2.8% after the company announced that it intends to nominate a slate of directors to stand for election at CF Industries Holdings' 2010 annual stockholder meeting.
Rival Potash has rallied 3.3% after the fertilizer maker said will resume operation at a Sussex-area mine on Sunday, following a temporary shutdown, according to the Canadian Press.
Logistics services provider Descartes Systems Group has dropped 1.6% after the company reported its third-quarter net income declined to $988,000 or $0.02 per share from $2.32 million or $0.04 per share in the previous year.
Canadian National Railway has slipped 0.9% after it made a new offer to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference or TCRC, in an effort to break the impasse with the TCRC and end the strike.
Research in Motion has gained 1.6% after rival Nokia said it expects industry mobile device volumes in 2010 to be up about 10%.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.11 cents to 95.45 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were positive by lunch hour. Materials marched 2.5%, while gold gained 2.3%, and global base metals advanced 1.9%.
The five losing groups were weighed by consumer staples, sliding 1%, energy stocks were off 0.8%, and financials were off 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.76 points to 1,460.25, while the Nasdaq Canada advanced 8.69 points to 675.80.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, bank and commodity shares slipped and select techs gained Wednesday as investors weighed mixed readings on the labour market, GM's management shakeup and record gold prices above $1,210 U.S. an ounce.
The Dow Jones Industrials tailed off 12.2 points by midday to 10,459.56. The S&P 500 index gained 0.60 points to 1,109.40, while the Nasdaq was up 11.88 points to 2,187.69.
Stocks rallied Tuesday as worries about Dubai's debt problems eased, pushing the Dow to a 14-month high. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both closed short of 14-month highs.
General Motors chief executive Fritz Henderson resigned late Tuesday, and chairman Ed Whitacre said he will take over as CEO until a replacement is found.
Henderson worked at GM for 25 years and took over as CEO after the Obama administration ousted Rick Wagoner in March during GM's government-supervised restructuring.
Economically speaking, payroll services firm ADP said employers in the private sector cut 169,000 jobs from their payrolls in November.
Employers in the private sector were expected to have cut 150,000 jobs from their payrolls in November, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
In the prior month, 195,000 jobs in the private sector were cut, according to revised figures.
In a separate report, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said 50,349 jobs were cut in November, the lowest number in nearly two years.
The Fed will release its Beige Book of economic conditions late this afternoon.
Treasury prices were slightly off, boosting the yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.29% from Tuesday's 3.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil subsided $1.70 to $77.84 U.S.
Gold prices added another $13 to $1,213 U.S., another all-time record
