Toronto's main stock index opened slightly higher, as negotiations continue over resolving a fiscal cliff involving $600 billion U.S. in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that kick in at the start of January and could drag the economy to the south into recession.
The S&P/TSX composite index notched higher by 6.85 points to open the final session of 2012 at 12,322.97
The Canadian dollar gained 0.11 cents to 100.47 cents U.S.
Canaccord Genuity has raised the target price of Aeterna Zentaris Inc. to $2.50 from $2.25 citing the recently granted special protocol assessment for AEZS-108 as an incremental positive as it reduces regulatory risk. Aeterna shares docked four cents to $2.45
TD Securities cuts price target on Cogeco Inc. to $47 from $49 citing its unit, Cogeco Cable Inc's, dilutive acquisition of Peer 1 Networks. Cogeco shares added two cents to $37.96.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 3.25 points to 1,205.09.
In all, eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher to begin the day. Gold moved 0.9% higher, while materials and the metals and mining group advanced 0.7% each.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by telecoms, down 0.3%, financials, losing 0.2%, and health-care stocks, sinking 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened lower Monday as investors continue to dial back expectations that officials in Washington will prevent tax hikes and spending cuts from kicking in on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average docked 7.33 points to 12,930.80
The S&P 500 moved up 3.99 points to 1,406.42. The Nasdaq Composite gained 16.56 points to 2,976.87
Despite all the uncertainty, stocks have overall had a pretty good year, with all three indexes up between 6% and 14%. By comparison, stocks ended 2011 almost exactly where prices were at the start of the year, although there was a lot of up and down in between.
On the last day of 2012, there is little news to distract investors from the fiscal cliff talks. There are no economic reports on tap, and not much in the way of company news.
An exception was a $665-million U.S. deal announced late Sunday to buy investment banking firm Duff & Phelps by a joint venture led by the Carlyle Group. The offer price represented a 19% premium over Duff & Phelps' stock close Friday.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.74%.
Oil prices slipped 31 cents to $90.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $7.30 to $1,663.20 U.S. an ounce.
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