The Toronto stock market was markedly positive Thursday as traders felt more confident about the euro-zone debt crisis, following a commitment from the president of the European Central Bank to protect the euro.
The S&P/TSX Composite index prospered 147.24 points, or 1.3%, to conclude Thursday at 11,639.75, after Mario Draghi said that the "E.C.B. is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough."
The Canadian dollar added 0.58 cents to 99.05 cents U.S.
The euro-zone debt crisis has weighed on markets for over two years. Greece, Portugal and Ireland — all countries saddled with huge debts — have been forced to seek bailouts. The crisis has more recently moved to Italy and Spain, which have been forced to pay ever higher yields in order to finance their debts.
Market-watchers took Draghi’s comment as a signal that the E.C.B. could be more willing to intervene in markets to lower those borrowing rates — which the bank has in recent months said is not part of its mandate.
The gold sector helped limit gains on the TSX after Barrick Gold Corp. reported quarterly net earnings fell to $750 million, or 75 cents per share, $1.16 billion a year ago. The results missed analyst expectations by 18 cents per share, according to average estimates from Thomson Reuters.
Barrick also said it has launched a review of its mines and projects to determine which ones offer enough return on the investment and its shares dropped $1.29, or 3.7%, to $33.20.
Goldcorp Inc. gained $1.74, or 5%, to $36.58 even as it reported a 45% drop in second-quarter net earnings from a year ago. It said gold prices remained under pressure for much of quarter and cited production shortfalls at its Red Lake operation.
The miner reported adjusted net earnings of $332 million, or 41 cents per share, missing analyst expectations by six cents.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. shares pulled ahead 26 cents to $45.55 as the fertilizer giant reported second-quarter earnings of $522 million, or 60 cents per share, down from $840 million a year ago. The company said that, while the results reflect strong underlying performance, earnings were impacted by a $341-million impairment recorded on its investment in Chinese fertilizer company Sinofert Holdings Ltd.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were on average expecting earnings per share of 99 cents. The company also warned of lower than anticipated profits for 2012.
The energy sector was up as Cenovus Energy climbed 31 cents to $31.46.
The base metals sector rose as copper gained five cents to $3.42 U.S. a pound. Ivanhoe Mines rose 17 cents to $8.34.
Railroad stocks also advanced with Canadian Pacific Railway up another $2.12 to $81.09 after the company issued a well-received earnings report on Wednesday. Canadian National Railways was up $1.92 to $88.75.
Financials were also supportive with Royal Bank ahead 51 cents to $50.90.
On the economic front, average weekly wages rose by 0.5% in May, marking the third straight month of increases, according to Statistics Canada. Further, Canadian businesses added a further 76,935 jobs in May, following an increase of 51,576 the previous month.
Rising 2.5% on a year-over-year basis, gains in average weekly wages were most notable in energy mining, construction, financial and insurance industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 9.10 points to 1,181.42. The Nasdaq Canada index gained 3.09 points to 333.17.
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were better by the end. The metals and mining group raced ahead 3.1%, while their cousins in the global base metals sector took on 1.9%, and energy stocks soared 1.7%.
Only a 0.2% decline by health-care issues kept things from being unanimous.
ON WALLSTREET
Hope for a real solution to Europe's ailing economy continued to lift U.S. stocks Thursday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the central bank would do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.
The Dow Jones industrial average vaulted 211.68 points, or 1.7%, to finish the day at 12,887.90
The S&P 500 advanced 23.11 points to 1,361. The Nasdaq soared 39.01 points to 2,893.25
Exxon Mobil's profit surged 49% to $15.9 billion U.S. during the second quarter. The massive number -- which would be by far the highest quarterly profit ever for any company -- included a special gain for divestitures. Shares of Exxon edged higher.
Zynga's stock plunged 40% Thursday, a day after the online-gaming company badly missed earnings expectations. Shares of Facebook, which earns roughly 18% of its revenue from users who play Zynga games on its platform, were also down sharply.
Shares of Sprint Nextel rallied after the wireless carrier reported higher revenues for the second quarter.
Dow component 3M reported better-than-expected earnings, but the company's revenue fell short of estimates.
Shares of Whole Foods were up sharply after the organic grocery store chain's earnings surpassed Wall Street's expectations and the company raised its forecast for the year.
Of the 264 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, about 66% have beat Wall Street's expectations, according to S&P Capital IQ. Analysts are currently expecting overall S&P 500 second-quarter earnings to decline 0.65%, which mark the end of 10-quarter winning streak.
On the economic front, the number of people filing for initial jobless claims fell 35,000 to 353,000 in the latest week, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Analysts were expecting a reading of 381,000 unemployment claims.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders rose 1.6% in June, far better than the 0.3% increase economists were expecting.
Pending home sales, on tap for this morning from the National Association of Realtors, are expected to have increased by 0.9% in June.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost a bit ground, raising yields to 1.43% from Wednesday’s 1.41%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery picked up 56 cents to $89.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery gained $7.00 to $1,615.10 U.S. an ounce.
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