The Toronto stock market looked at an uneventful start to Thursday’s session, as traders ponder earnings reports from some of Canada’s biggest corporations in the resource, financial, telecom and transportation sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 15.94 points to close Wednesday at 12,761.59
The Canadian dollar faded 0.07 cents to 100.39 cents U.S. early Thursday.
BCE Inc. said quarterly net earnings were up 45.7% from a year earlier to $708 million or 91 cents per share. However, BCE’s adjusted earnings rose at a more.
It was a mixed picture for copper miner Teck Resources Inc. Earnings and revenue trounced analyst estimates, but its net profit fell to $145 million, or 25 cents per share, down from $637 million a year ago. Revenue dropped to $2.73 billion from $2.97 billion but that was still above the $2.58 billion that analysts expected.
Manulife Financial Corp. more than doubled analyst projections with fourth-quarter net profit soaring to $1.06 billion. But core earnings came in at $537 million or 28 cents per share during the quarter, four cents below the consensus estimate.
Air Canada posted fourth-quarter profit of $8 million, or three cents per diluted share, reversing a year-earlier net loss of $60 million or 22 cents per diluted share. Operating revenue rose to $2.84 billion from just under $2.7 billion.
Full-year figures at the Maple Leaf airline showed net income at $131 million, or 45 cents per diluted share on revenues of $12.1 billion, compared with a net loss of $249 million or 92 cents per diluted share on revenue of $11.6 billion in the same 2011 period.
On the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its new housing price index perked 0.2% in December, after a 0.1% increase the month before.
Moreover, the nation’s number crunchers told us that the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities slid 11.2% to $5.7 billion in December, following a 14.5% decline in November. Both residential and non-residential sectors announced fewer builds during the last month of 2012.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange erased 3.55 points to end Thursday at 1,211.72
ON WALLSTREET
Investors are in standby mode, in anticipation of a catalyst to spark market, while earnings reports and economic data parades before their eyes Thursday.
Futures for the Dow Industrials gained 12 points, or 0.1%, to 13,940. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 2.9 points, or 0.2%, to 1,509.70, and futures for the NASDAQ improved 5.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,742.50
Sprint Nextel shares edged lower in premarket trading after the cell phone carrier reported a fourth quarter loss in line with expectations.
Shares of Sony dropped 3% after the electronics manufacturer reported a surprising third quarter loss.
Alcatel Lucent posted another quarterly loss, yet shares jumped nearly 5% on news that CEO Ben Verwaayen is resigning from his post.
Akamai Technologies shares plunged 17% in premarket trading after the company, which provides Internet content delivery, cut its revenue forecasts.
Shares of Macy's rose nearly 4% following the retailer's announcement that same-store sales rose 11.7% in January.
Shares of Blackberry rose more than 3% in premarket trading, after the smartphone maker said the Canadian launch of its new Z10 smartphone was its best launch ever.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shares continued to tumble Thursday morning, sinking 7% on slightly lower sales growth.
News Corp. reported earnings that matched analysts' expectations Wednesday yet shares continued lower in premarket trading Thursday.
European markets were mixed on a day of meetings at the European Central Bank and Bank of England. The British central bank kept interest rates unchanged, and the ECB isn't expected to waver from its monetary policies either, but ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to be quizzed about political strains in the euro-zone and the euro's strength.
Asian markets ended in the red. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.7%, the Nikkei declined 0.9% and the Hang Seng lost 0.3%
On the economic front, weekly initial jobless claims came in at 366,000 -- marking a drop of 5,000 from the previous week. Meanwhile, the nation's business productivity dropped 2% in 2012's fourth quarter, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve will release data on consumer credit for December.
Oil prices gave back four cents to $96.60 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $1.60 an ounce to $1,677.20 U.S.
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