The TSX eked higher at Wednesday’s opening, as oil prices recovered some lost ground ahead of a meeting of euro-zone leaders later this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained four points to begin Wednesday at 11,338.42.
The Canadian dollar added 0.53 of a cent to 97.69 cents U.S. early Wednesday, a day after ratings agency DBRS confirmed the top long- and short-term AAA and R-1 (high) ratings for the Government of Canada debt, citing Canada’s “credible fiscal recovery plan” and “strong track record of outperformance.”
In Canadian corporate news, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. of Vancouver says it will pay $875 million U.S. to acquire a California-based company that makes commercial communications satellites. MDA says the addition of Space Systems/Loral Inc. will give it a critical mass in the U.S. market and global opportunities for growth.
Canadian Pacific Railway says that retired oil executive Rick George has resigned as a director, the latest departure from a board that was transformed by a hard fought proxy battle led by the company’s largest shareholder.
Goldcorp Inc. says an Ontario judge has dismissed Barrick Gold Corp.’s claims that its acquisition of the El Morro project in Chile was illegal because its rival already had an agreement.
Barrick Gold Corp. of Toronto the world’s largest gold producer, claimed in the Ontario court that it had a deal in October 2009 to acquire a majority stake in the project from European miner Xstrata PLC.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.08 points to 1,168.88. The Nasdaq Canada index recouped 2.91 points to 355.35
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative to begin the day. Gold shaved off 0.7%, global base metals were off 0.6% and the metals and mining group faded 0.5%.
The five gainers were powered by information technology, whose gain was 3.7%, while energy stocks progressed 0.4% and telecoms boosted 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday, as investors around the globe awaited a key European summit.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved determinedly forward 74.82 points to 12,609.49
The S&P 500 picked up 9.87 points to 1,329.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 22.07 points to 2,876.13
Pesticide-maker Monsanto reported quarterly earnings of $1.63 U.S. a share on $4.2 billion U.S. in revenue, slightly better than expected. Shares were up in early trading.
Food producer General Mills posted quarterly and annual earnings, missing forecasts on both. CEO Ken Powell said rising commodity costs -- the highest in more than 30 years -- ate away at profits.
Investors are also be keeping tabs on Facebook since Wednesday marks the end of the so-called quiet period, allowing analysts to publish research on the social media company's estimated value.
Homebuilder Lennar jumped after reporting higher-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, with net income beating Wall Street's expectations.
Google will hold its annual developers conference beginning Wednesday in San Francisco. While the company has stayed mum on specifics, it is rumored to be working on its own tablet and is slated to unveil the latest version of its Android smartphone.
Shares of News Corp edged higher, after surging more than 8% Tuesday. News Corp. said it may split into two entities -- one comprising the 20th Century Fox film studio, the Fox broadcast network and the Fox News Channel, and the other housing its newspaper and book publishing businesses.
Shares of Best Buy were down on reports that the retailer's founder, Richard Shulze, may be selling his stake in the company.
Overseas, European leaders are under pressure to announce plans to backstop the debts of struggling nations, while also laying the groundwork for future growth, during their key meeting on Thursday and Friday.
But investors are skeptical that anything concrete will emerged, since many similar summits have failed to come up with tangible solutions.
Spain has been particularly troublesome recently, with its sky-high borrowing costs and struggling banking sector.
Economically speaking, U.S. durable goods orders for May surpassed expectations. The U.S. Census Bureau reported new orders for manufactured durable goods in May increased 1.1% to $217.2 billion U.S. Analysts had expected half that.
May's pending home sales, to be reported by the National Association of Realtors, are expected to have risen.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained some ground, pushing the yield down to 1.62% from 1.63% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for August delivery shot up 96 cents to $80.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $1.50 to $1,576.40 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
