North American markets crept higher Thursday despite a round of disappointing reports that suggest the U.S. economy is not recovering as much as some would like to believe.
The S&P/TSX composite index finished Thursday up 33.95 points to 12,507.60
The Canadian dollar subsided 0.27 cents to 98.32 cents U.S.
The industrials sector was the leading advancer, up by 1.2 per cent, with shares by flight simulator and training company CAE Inc. hitting a new 52-week high by gaining 6.2%, or 66 cents, at $11.26.
The Montreal-based company reported it earned $43.8 million or 17 cents per share for the period ended March 31, down from $53.2 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago.
However, excluding $10.1 million of restructuring, integration and acquisition costs, it earned $53.9 million or 21 cents per share. Revenue in what was the company’s fourth quarter grew to $587.9 million from $506.7 million last year.
Telus announced that it was prepared to buy small wireless carrier Mobilicity as part of a $380-million deal. The deal, which is subject to conditions including approval by the Competition Bureau, Industry Canada, and Mobilicity’s debtholders, resulted in Telus shares climbing 1.1%, or 39 cents, to $37.34.
The gold, materials and metals and mining sectors of the resource-heavy TSX also were also positive after being down for most of the morning.
Commodity prices were also showing some small gains. July copper was up three cents $3.30 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources ditched 28 cents, or 1%, to $27.77.
In the economic file today, Statistics Canada reported this morning that folks offshore acquired $1.2 billion of Canadian securities in March, mostly parking their funds in government bonds.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors added $3.8 billion of foreign securities to their holdings, following a $4.3-billion acquisition in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.01 points to 932.86
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day, led by industrials, up 1.2%, utilities, up 0.7%, and consumer staples, up 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by health-care, down 0.7%, information technology, sliding 0.5%, and metals and mining, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks skidded Thursday, as a series of mixed economic reports offered little inspiration to buy stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed lower by 42.47 points to 15,233.20
The S&P 500 index moved lower 8.31 points to 1,650.47, while the NASDAQ Composite slid 6.37 points to 3,465.24
Cisco shares surged after the tech giant topped earnings and sales forecasts. But bullish statements by Cisco's CEO John Chambers about the global economy didn't spill over to the broader market. But its competitors Juniper Networks and Alcatel Lucent got a boost on the back of Cisco's earnings.
Looking at other tech giants, Google shares dipped slightly after topping the $900 U.S. mark for the first time Wednesday.
Investors are looking closely at results from Dell to gauge whether founder Michael Dell and private equity fund Silver Lake can succeed in taking the company private. Activist hedge fund manager Carl Icahn is challenging the deal. Dell's profits widely missed analysts' forecasts but the company beat on revenues.
Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings but a decrease in same-store sales. The company said it was held back by a delay in income tax refunds.
Kohl's stock price jumped after the retailer beat its own guidance in quarterly earnings, despite a dip in profit. Struggling J.C. Penney, which has been backed by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, reports results in the afternoon.
Tesla shares rose after the electric car maker announced it was raising capital to repay its government loan early. CEO Elon Musk plans to personally buy $100 million worth of stock. Shares of another Musk-backed company, SolarCity, surged more than 10% on news of a financing agreement with Goldman Sachs for solar projects.
A key measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, fell. Gold prices, which tend to do well during times of inflation, continued to plummet following the CPI report.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained strength, lowering yields to 1.86% from Wednesday’s 1.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices acquired 73 cents to $95.03 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $11.20 at $1,385 U.S. an ounce
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