Toronto’s leading stock benchmark made strides Wednesday, gaining for a second straight session.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 76.52 points to close the day at 11,410.94
The Canadian dollar shed 0.18 of a cent to 97.50 cents U.S., a day after ratings agency DBRS confirmed the top long- and short-term ratings for the Government of Canada debt. The fall came amid a rise in the U.S. dollar on positive economic data from south of the border.
In Canadian corporate news, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. of Vancouver 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. Shares jumped $13.02, or 29.2%, to $57.66.
Meantime, Westport Innovations Inc. said it will provide General Motors with technology for natural gas engines. Westport stock gained $2.82, or more than 8.5%, to $36.15.
AGF Management Limited says its second-quarter profit fell to $23.8 million, or 25 cents per share, a decline of 30% from $33.9 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier. Shares were down a penny at $11.05, a 52-week low.
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. Shares fell 43 cents to $72.70.
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.
Barrick Gold Corp. 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. Goldcorp shares lost 11 cents to $38.33, while Barrick shares shed 33 cents to $37.50.
In the energy field, shares of Candax Energy fell 10%, or half a cent, to 4.5 cents, while Sacre-Coeur Minerals fared even worse, tumbling two cents, or 20% to eight cents.
However, several energy stocks scored gains, with Encana Corp. adding 67 cents, or 3.5%, to $19.75, and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. tacking on $1.35, or 6.4%, to $22.44.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 2.59 points to 1,171.55. The Nasdaq Canada index soared 7.32 points to 359.76
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by the close, led by information technology issues, rocketing 5.1% higher, while energy stocks leaped 2% and industrials were 1% to the good.
The three laggards were telecoms, off 0.4%, while real-estate and gold stocks faded 0.3% each.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks gained Wednesday, following strong reports on durable goods orders and housing. But worries about a key two-day Europe summit remained front and centre.
The Dow Jones Industrials zoomed 92.34 points to close out the session at 12,627.
The S&P 500 picked up 11.29 points to 1,331.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 21.26 points to 2,875.32
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.
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 -- cut into profits.
Investors are also 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 unveiled its first tablet, the Nexus 7, at the company's I/O developers’ conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. The tablet, made by Asus, will retail for $199 U.S. and will begin shipping in mid-July.
With a seven-inch screen and a focus on magazine and book content, the Nexus 7 will be in direct competition with the Amazon Kindle Fire. Shares of Google were up on the news, while Amazon's slid nearly 1%.
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 rebounded after reports that the retailer's founder, Richard Shulze, may be selling his stake in the company.
European leaders are under pressure to announce plans to backstop the debts of struggling nations, while also laying the groundwork for future growth.
The leaders will discuss "building blocks," including the formation of a banking union and an economic stimulus, to address long-term challenges facing the euro-zone.
But analyst expectations are low as investors grow more skeptical that anything concrete will emerge from the summit.
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.
Builders broke ground on more single-family houses for a third consecutive month in May and rising construction permits pointed to further gains, showing the residential real-estate market is weathering the U.S. economic slowdown.
Work began on 516,000 one-family houses at an annual rate last month, up 3.2% from April and the most this year, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today in Washington.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained back lost ground, pushing the yield down to 1.62% from Tuesday’s 1.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for August delivery had improved $1.13 by day’s end to $80.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $3.50 to settle at $1,578.40 U.S. an ounce.
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