Major stock indexes rose Thursday, finding support from several U.S. economic reports this morning that were generally as good, if not better, than economists had expected.
The S&P/TSX composite gained 76.98 points to approach noon on Thursday at 12,499.59
The Canadian dollar took on 0.31 cents to 100.31 cents U.S.
The market was not helped by Barrick Gold Corp., which reported earnings that missed expectations as well as cost overruns at its Pascua-Lama gold project. Its shares were down 7%.
Suncor Energy Inc. trimmed its 2012 budget by about 11% after coming in under budget on one of its expansion efforts and slowing spending on major growth projects. Shares were up 2.3%
BCE Inc. said it’s on track to meet the 2012 financial guidance it issued in August but the telecom and media giant’s profit was slightly below analyst estimates in the third quarter. Shares are down 1.2% in early trading.
Cameco Corp. said third-quarter adjusted earnings were just half the year-earlier level on lower uranium sales and prices and higher costs. But the uranium producer reaffirmed its sales, revenue and production guidance for the year.
Cott Corp. said third-quarter earnings fell to 15 cents a share from 17 cents and revenue fell
Fortis Inc. said third-quarter earnings fell to 24 cents a share from 30 cents.
Husky Energy Inc. said third-quarter net earnings were unchanged at 53 cents a share, while adjusted earnings fell by a penny to 52 Canadian cents a share, which beat expectations.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gathered 5.39 points to 1,319.87
All but two of 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by lunch time. Metals and mining gained 2.2%, health-care took on 2.1%, and global base metals gained 2%.
Gold was off 2%, and the only other occupant in the basement was materials, down 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks started November with a strong rally Thursday, following mostly upbeat jobs reports. All three major indexes jumped more than 1%, as Wall Street continues to recover from the two-day trading suspension due to Superstorm Sandy.
The Dow Jones Industrials greeted noon ahead 142.60 points, or 1.1%, to 13,239.10, while the S&P 500 moved higher by 14.40 to 1,426.56, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 41.90 points at 3,019.14
The corporate world is busy Thursday. Exxon Mobil reported better-than-expected earnings in the morning, while AIG, Starbucks, and LinkedIn are among the firms due to report after the closing bell.
Netflix shares retreated after a massive 14% runup Wednesday. The previous day's gains came after famed corporate raider Carl Icahn disclosed he bought a 10% stake in Netflix, and strongly hinted he'd like a larger company to buy the streaming video and DVD service.
Japan-based Panasonic released an earnings report Thursday that was peppered with negative news. The electronics company posted a loss, dramatically lowered its forecast for the year, and announced it will suspend its dividend. Business conditions are expected to become "much more severe." Shares of the company declined.
Also in Japan, Sony reported a narrower loss for its fiscal second quarter and reaffirmed its full-year forecast for a swing to profit. Its U.S.-traded stock gained ground.
Shares of Ford fell slightly after the company announced that Alan Mulally would remain president and CEO through at least 2014, and named Mark Fields as chief operating officer.
The gains came as investors parsed through a bevy of corporate and economic news, including planned job cuts, private sector job gains and initial unemployment claims. Those numbers are all a prelude to the government's monthly jobs report on Friday.
While outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported the number of planned job cuts surged to a five-month high in October, two other reports were positive.
Payroll processor ADP said U.S. private-sector employers added 158,000 jobs in October, which was above expectations, and weekly initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 363.000 last week, coming in lower than forecasts.
The other reports on tap for Thursday span a wide variety of economic sectors: manufacturing, consumer confidence, construction spending and auto sales.
Overseas, China's government reported earlier in the day that its official purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.2 in October from 49.8 the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates that factory conditions are improving in the manufacturing sector.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising the yield to 1.72% from Wednesday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 73 cents to $86.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $2.20 per ounce to $1,716.90 U.S.
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