The Toronto stock market looked set for a slightly higher start to the trading session Thursday a day after markets tumbled as traders weighed the odds of the United States steering clear of a so-called fiscal cliff by the end of the year.
The S&P/TSX composite fell 130.61 points, or 1.1%, Wednesday to 12,230.59
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 100.36 cents U.S. Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, it was another heavy earnings day for Canadian investors with reports coming in from sectors right across the board.
Manulife Financial Corp. on Thursday said it had a $227-million net loss in the third quarter, after absorbing a $1-billion charge related to the life insurance company’s annual review of actuarial assumptions. Manulife says its loss was equal to 14 cents per share under standard accounting. However, it says a better measure of its performance was $556 million in core earnings, or 29 cents per share, down from $624 million or 34 cents per share a year earlier.
On Wednesday after the market close, Sun Life Financial Inc. said it earned $383 million, or 64 cents per share, for the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $621 million, or $1.07 per share, a year ago. Operating net income, which excludes items that the company believes are not ongoing, was $401 million, or 68 cents per share, beating expectations of 63 cents.
Air Canada said Thursday it had $429 million of net income in the third quarter or $1.54 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $124 million or 45 cents per diluted share for the same period last year. Air Canada’s adjusted net income was 82 cents per share, up from 68 cents per share in the third quarter of 2011 and well above expectations of 70 cents.
Auto parts giant Magna International Inc. is reporting a jump in third-quarter net income to $390 million U.S., or $1.66 per diluted share, up from $102 million U.S., or 42 cents a share a year ago. Magna posted sales of $7.4 billion U.S., up from $6.97 billion U.S.in the year-ago quarter.
Magna also announced that Frank Stronach is resigning from the board of the auto parts giant he founded in his garage in 1957.
Stronach said he has become involved in a number of activities outside the automotive industry including politics in his native Austria and he didn’t want his political views to be confused with his role on Magna’s board.
In the energy sector, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. had $360 million of net income in the third quarter or 33 cents per share, down from $753 million or 68 cents per share a year earlier.
Adjusted net earnings fell to $353 million or 32 cents per share from $606 million or 55 cents per share a year earlier as results were affected by lower prices for crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas partially offset by higher volumes by higher volumes of crude oil and synthetic crude.
It’s also been a busy so far on the macroeconomic front, with Statistics Canada reporting our trade shrank with the rest of the world.
The nation’s number crunchers said Canada's merchandise exports rose 1.9% and imports were unchanged in September. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with the world narrowed from $1.5 billion in August to $826 million in September.
On the housing front, the New Housing Price Index rose 0.2% in September, following a similar increase in August.
However, figures released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts fell to 204,100 units in October from 224,000 units in September, confounding experts who predicted a figure of 212,000 last month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 12.43 points to 1,290.71
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open Thursday, setting the market up for a rebound a day after all three major indexes plunged more than 2%.
The Dow Jones Industrials futures regained 22 points, or 0.2%, to 12,885 while S&P 500 futures added 3.60 points, or 0.3%, to 1,392.70, and futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq moved higher by nine points, or 0.3%, to 2,619.
Financial stocks, which led the post-election decline, were poised for a bounce, with shares of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase up slightly in premarket trading.
Apple shares were also edging higher, a day after tumbling into bear market territory -- down 20% from their all-time-high of $705 U.S. hit in mid-September.
Following President Obama's re-election Tuesday night, attention has shifted to how lawmakers will address the looming fiscal cliff that threatens to throw the country back into a recession if left untouched.
Investors also digested the weekly report on initial jobless claims and a monthly reading on the trade balance as U.S. stocks look to bounce back from their worst day in months.
The government said 355,000 Americans filed for first-time jobless claims in latest week, better than the expectations for 377,000.
The trade deficit for September narrowed to $41.5 billion U.S. Analysts were expecting the gap to widen to $45.4 billion U.S.
While Europe's debt crisis drags on, investors can breathe a small sigh of relief after the Greek parliament approved a new round of spending cuts that are required for the country to receive the next installment of its international bailout.
The European Central Bank also held its interest rate steady at 0.75%.
The Bank of England left its interest rate unchanged and kept its asset purchase program at £375 billion.
European stocks were higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, the DAX in Germany added 0.4% and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.6%.
Asian markets closed sharply lower Thursday, playing catchup with the previous day's retreat in European and U.S. markets. The
Shanghai Composite tumbled 1.6%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2.4%, and Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.5%.
Oil for December delivery rose 81 cents to $85.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery edged up 50 cents to $1,714.50 U.S. an ounce.
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