The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Wednesday amid lower commodity prices and earnings misses from Canada’s energy sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 16.46 points to greet noon Wednesday at 12,762.11
The Canadian dollar were unchanged at 100.44 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy shares fell $1.59, or 4.6%, to $32.79 after it said late Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net loss was $562 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with net earnings of $1.43 billion, or 91 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Results at the country’s biggest energy company were impacted by a $1.49-billion charge related to its long-shelved and economically "challenged" Voyageur oilsands upgrader.
Without the Voyageur charge, Suncor’s operating earnings were $1 billion in the quarter, or 65 cents per share. That missed the average analyst estimate of 76 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Husky Energy Inc. also missed expectations; Husky’s quarterly net income was $474 million, or 48 cents per share, down from $526 million or 53 cents per share a year earlier. Husky’s adjusted income amounted to 50 cents per share, six cents per share below the consensus estimate and its shares were off 52 cents at $30.85.
Elsewhere in the sector, Canadian Natural Resources gave back 23 cents to $30.02.
The consumer staples sector led gainers with convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard ahead $1.69 to $51.93.
The tech sector was also supportive as Celestica ran up 19 cents to $8.
BlackBerry was well off the highs of the morning, but still ahead 13 cents to $16.07 on top of a six per cent gain Tuesday on hopes for the new BlackBerry 10 product lineup, which was unveiled a week ago. The Z10 touchscreen was made available to Canadian consumers Tuesday.
Anecdotes from the U.K., where the phone launched last week, suggest the new BlackBerry is selling at a steady pace.
The financials sector was up with Royal Bank up 69 cents at $62.73.
The gold sector was ahead as Barrick Gold Corp. gained 28 cents to $32.70.
The base metals component was slightly lower as March copper on the Nymex slipped three cents to $3.74 U.S. a pound. Thompson Creek Metals gained six cents to $4.07.
In other earnings news, WestJet Airlines Ltd. shares added two cents to $22.57 after it said net earnings in the most recent quarter were $60.9 million or 46 cents per diluted share on revenue of $860.6 million. That was up more than 70% from a year ago. Full-year profit soared 63% to $242.4 million from $148.7 million. WestJet also boosted its quarterly dividend by two cents to 10 cents per share.
TMX Group Limited shares advanced $1.24 to $56.72 as it posted a profit of $32.8 million or 61 cents a share in the final quarter of 2012. Revenue came in at $181.1 million.
On an adjusted basis, the company that operates Canada’s largest stock exchange reported 95 cents per share of earnings after excluding the cost related to some acquisitions and to its restructuring last year.
Intact Financial Corp. says its net profit soared to $181 million in the fourth quarter, as the property and casualty insurer benefited from improved operating results and higher investment gains. The company also says its quarterly dividend will rise by 10% to 44 cents per share and its stock lost 40 cents to $65.28.
On the economic beat, the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was announced this hour, and was found to be 58.9 by the end of January. The corresponding Ivey PMI figure for December 2012 was 52.8; the figure for January 2012 was 64.1 and for January 2011 was 46.8.
A figure above 50 shows an increase in purchasing while below 50 shows a decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange erased four points midday at 1,211.27
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, led by consumer staples, up 1.1%, while financials and telecoms each prospered 0.5%.
The three laggards were energy, down 1%, information technology, fading 0.1%, and utilities, sliding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks edged lower early Wednesday as investors weighed the latest corporate results against renewed concerns about Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 4.80 points to 13,974.50
The S&P 500 index fell 0.77 points to 1,510.52. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gave back 1.02 points to 3,170.56
Time Warner posted better-than-expected earnings and hiked its dividend by 11%.
Shares of Irish neuroscience biotech company Elan rose more than 6% after the company reported strong earnings and said it would pay $3.25 billion U.S. to end its collaboration with Biogen Indec
Disney shares rose in early trading, a day after the media company reported earnings and revenues that beat analysts' forecasts.
Zynga's results also came in ahead of forecasts late Tuesday.
News Corp, Yelp and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters are up after the bell.
Aside from earnings, investors are starting to worry about the latest phone launch from BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion. News outlets reported short or nonexistent lines Tuesday at stores in the phone maker's home country of Canada.
Hewlett-Packard shares rose for a second day, following its publicly stated threat to steal customers away from Dell, which announced plans to go private.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury sparked, lowering yields to 1.99% from Tuesday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 19 cents to $96.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.50 to $1,677 U.S. an ounce.
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