A late morning lift from tech heavyweight BlackBerry helped push the Toronto stock market into positive territory Monday.
The S&P/TSX composite index acquired 17.29 points to approach noon at 12,852.89
The Canadian dollar nipped up 0.17 cents at 97.40 cents U.S.
BlackBerry shares ran up $1.41, or 10.5%, to $14.84 amid news that the company’s new Z10 smartphone will go on sale in the U.S. on March 22 through AT&T. The Z10 has already launched in Canada, the U.K., India and a few other markets to date.
The energy sector was down with EnCana off 18 cents at $19.74.
The base metals component fell as May copper declined one cent to $3.50 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources lost 31 cents to $31.13.
Inmet Mining Corp. continues to be in play. It’s the target of a $5.1-billion hostile takeover offer from First Quantum Minerals Ltd., which has said its offer of stock and cash worth about $72 per share will expire later Monday.
Toronto-based Inmet has recommended that shareholders reject First Quantum’s bid, although it hasn’t produced a superior offer.
Inmet shares rose 23 cents to $68.75 while First Quantum was two cents lower at $20.40.
The gold sector was down with Barrick Gold faded 36 cents to $29.41.
The board of Aurizon Mines Ltd. has adopted a new shareholder rights plan, saying it wants to prevent Alamos Gold Inc. from using its voting power to defeat a better takeover offer from a rival company. Alamos already owns 16% of Aurizon and has offered to buy up the rest of its stock.
Aurizon’s board is supporting a rival offer from Hecla Mining Co. and said Monday that its new rights plan will ensure all shareholders are treated equally. Alamos shares added one cent at $14.55 while Aurizon shares were three cents lower at $4.52.
Consumer staples stocks also weighed on the TSX as Maple Leaf Foods gave back 49 cents to $13.01.
In other corporate news, Clearwater Seafoods Inc. shares rose 12 cents to $5.13 as it reported quarterly net income of $10.5 million or 17 cents a basic share, down from $16.4 million a year ago. It also posted record revenues of $350.4 million for all of 2012.
Data over the weekend showed China’s economy slowing at the beginning of the year. Industrial production was up 9.9% year over year in January while retail sales rose 12.3% in February. Both figures were below expectations and weaker than the previous month.
Elsewhere, Italy's economy contracted by 0.9% in the fourth quarter of last year, in line with a preliminary estimate, and gross domestic product was down a revised 2.8% year-on-year, data showed.
Coal miner Walter Energy Inc, in the midst of a dispute with a British hedge fund that is looking to replace half of its board, said it could further cut production at underperforming mines and explore the sale of non-core assets. Walter stock dipped 99 cents, or 3%, to $31.85.
No data is on the economic docket for Monday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained negative 1.60 points to 1,116.25
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were still in the red by noon, weighed by health-care, 0.6% to the bad, while metals and mining and gold were each off 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by the 2.7% hike in information technology stocks, followed by utilities, up 0.5%, and financials, ahead 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors were slowly letting go of the pause button Monday, after last week's record-breaking rally.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 29.22 points to 14,426.30, on top of Friday’s record high.
The S&P 500 index inched up 0.72 points to 1,551.50. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 0.27 points, to 3,244.64.
The subdued trading comes after stocks wrapped one of the best weeks of the year Friday, with the Dow closing at a record high for the fourth straight day.
The S&P is less than 1% from hitting its all-time high.
Stocks have been propelled higher by a string of strong economic reports.
So far this year, the S&P 500 has suffered losses on only 17 trading days
Wal-Mart warned last month that February sales had been softer than expected.
On the corporate front Monday, shares of Dick's Sporting Goods fell more than 9% after the retailer reported earnings and sales that fell short of forecasts. The company also said it expected a sharp slowdown in same-store sales for the first quarter.
Renren easily beat revenue forecasts, sending shares of the Chinese social media company up nearly 2%.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn signed a confidentiality agreement with Dell to review the PC maker's financial information, a move that could head off a showdown over Michael Dell's buyout.
Shares of Genworth Financial rose 6% after an article in Barron's called the stock undervalued.
General Electric named former SEC chairman Mary Schapiro to its board of directors.
Economically speaking, this week's main focus will be on retail sales, as investors look for further signs of economic strength.
The numbers, due out Wednesday, will be even more closely watched than normal as investors are keen to see whether the increased payroll tax, delayed tax refunds and higher gas prices have caused consumers to pull back. February sales are expected to have risen 0.5%, according to economists.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.05% from Friday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded 63 cents to $91.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up 80 cents to $1,577.70 U.S. an ounce.
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