Stock markets advanced Wednesday, building on the gains of the previous session amid rising optimism that China’s growth targets will be met and data showing the American economy is slowly recovering.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended Wednesday positive by 95.92 points to 12,831.96
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.04 cents at 96.96 cents U.S.
The TSX is still 15% shy of its record close of 15,073, set in June 2008.
The gold sector was ahead as Goldcorp Inc. improved by $1.54, or 4.7%, to $34.44.
The tech sector ran up with BlackBerry gaining 95 cents, or 7.4%, to $13.85 after the smartphone company secured the second major supply contract this week for its new BlackBerry Z10 devices.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based firm said that a mental health organization based in the United Kingdom has ordered 1,800 of the touchscreen phones that will be delivered throughout the year. Earlier this week BlackBerry signed a supply agreement with the German government.
Open Text rose $1.26 to $59.26 after Canada’s largest publicly traded software company announced it has acquired Resonate Knowledge Technologies for an undisclosed sum.
Open Text says the two companies have about 500 customers in common in 20 countries and that Resonate KT’s software helps users to easily visualize unstructured data.
The base metals component was up with May copper contract in New York down two cents at $3.49 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources was up $1.03 to $31.56.
There was little reaction in the oil market to the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who died Tuesday after a two-year battle with cancer. Chavez oversaw a decline in oil production during his 14 years as the leader of Venezuela, which sits on the world’s second-largest oil reserves, and analysts don’t expect that trend to change immediately.
Among energy plays, shares in Suncor Energy climbed 43 cents to $31.28.
Talisman Energy Inc. shares added 11 cents to $12.65 after it said it is planning a further $2.3 billion of dispositions or joint ventures over the next 12 to 18 months, including marketing some of its assets in western Canada.
The financials sector declined following a day of solid gains after Scotiabank wrapped up a strong series of earnings reports from the big banks. Royal Bank lost 54 cents to $63.22.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, media company Torstar Corp. had $24.1 million of net income or 30 cents a share in the fourth quarter, down about 62% from a year earlier as it felt the impact of falling revenue at its media and book businesses.
Adjusted earnings came in at 49 cents a share. Torstar missed analyst estimates of 53 cents for net and adjusted earnings. Revenue of $395.7 million also missed expectations for $413.65 million and its shares fell 92 cents, or 11.6%, to $7.00
Dorel Industries Inc. says its fourth-quarter net income was $29.1 million U.S., up 6.4% from a year earlier. The profit amounted to 91 cents U.S. per diluted share, 21 cents above the consensus estimate.
The Montreal-based maker of child car seats, juvenile furniture and bicycles says its revenue was up 10.9% to $622.6 million, beating the consensus analyst estimate by about $30 million. Dorel shares ran ahead $2.39, or 6.3%, to $40.29.
On the economic slate, the Bank of Canada said this morning that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1%. The bank rate is correspondingly 1 ¼%and the deposit rate is three quarters of 1%
Moreover, the Ivey Purchasing Managers’ Index came in during February at 51.10, down from 58.90 in January and down from 66.50 in February 2012.
This is a drop of 13.2% from last month and 23.2% from a year ago. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion in purchases, below 50, contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.87 points to 1,110.36
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained, led by gold, surging 4.3%, materials, up 3.4%, and the metals and mining group, up 2.7%
The three laggards proved to be health-care, ailing 0.6%, financials, off 0.3%, and real-estate, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
One day after finally hitting a new all-time high, the Dow continued to gain ground Wednesday as investors welcomed signs of strength in the U.S. job market.
The Dow Jones Industrials was off the highs of the day, but still positive 42.47 points to end Wednesday at 14,296.20, yet another all-time record.
The S&P 500 index squeezed higher 1.67 points to 1,541.46, now to sit only about 1.3% away from its record high, set in October 2007.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite, however, stepped back 1.77 points to 3,222.36, as shares of Staples weighed on the index after the office supplies retailer cut its sales outlook.
After bottoming in March 2009, stocks have risen steadily as investors were drawn back into the market by attractive valuations.
Analysts say stocks are still relatively cheap compared with earnings expectations, but bargains could be harder to come by as prices continue to rise.
Wednesday's better-than-expected report from payroll processing firm ADP fueled that confidence and raised hopes that Friday's all-important monthly jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department would be a strong one. Economists expect a gain of 175,000 jobs in February.
On the corporate front, shares of Hovnanian fell 2% after the homebuilder said it lost a worse-than-expected $11.3 million U.S., or eight cents per share, in the most recent quarter. Despite the latest results, Hovnanian said it expects to return to profitability this year.
Also, the European Union fined Microsoft €561 million, or about $730 million U.S., for failing to provide users of Windows 7 with a choice of Internet browsers.
Shares of Smith & Wesson declined, despite the gun maker's strong third- quarter earnings.
J.C. Penney's shares extended Tuesday's after the Wall Street Journal reported that some shareholders may start pushing for a new CEO if sales continue to slide.
The struggling retailer is also in the third week of a court battle with Macy's, which claims that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia violated a previous agreement by entering into a new partnership with J.C. Penney.
On the economic front Wednesday, the ADP National Employment Report showed that private-sector employment increased by 198,000 jobs in February. That was much better than the expected increase of 150,000.
Also Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve said, in the latest edition of its Beige Book, that economic activity across its 12 districts expanded at a "modest to moderate pace" since it released the last edition in January.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, raising yields to 1.94% from Tuesday’s 1.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 44 cents to $90.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.60 to $1,581.50 U.S. an ounce.
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