The Toronto stock market approached noon hour ET Thursday amid a full slate of quarterly earnings from a number of Canadian heavyweights and economic data from both sides of the border.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 87.19 points to greet noon at 12,499.92
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.70 cents to 96.63 cents U.S.
The TSX was lifted by strong gains in the metals and mining sector, as shares in Turquoise Hill Resources climbed nearly 14% to $5.16 after it announced that Rio Tinto PLC was lending it $600 million U.S. to help it fund its $6.2 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.
Shares in HudBay Minerals also rose 7.6%, or 46 cents, to $6.48, while Capstone Mining shares went up 6.3% or 12 cents, to $2.04.
There was also a flurry of financial reports from across various sectors released Thursday.
Tim Hortons Inc. says it's going to borrow up to an additional $900 million to fund the repurchase of its shares. It says it has received regulatory approval to buy back up to 10% of its publicly traded shares, raising a previous spending limit set at $250 million.
The Canadian restaurant company reported a 14.5% increase in its second-quarter net income, which rose to $123.7 million from $108.1 million in the previous year. Total revenue for the company was $800.1 million, up 1.9% from $785.6 million. Its shares rose 65 cents, or 1.1%, to $60.14.
BCE Inc. reported $571 million of net income attributable to common shareholders, or 74 cents per common share. That was down from $732 million or 94 cents per common share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the media and telecommunications giant earned $594 million or 77 cents per common share -- down from $747 million or 97 cents per share in the second quarter of 2012, when BCE's profit was boosted by non-recurring items. Its shares fell 34 cents to $42.21.
Meanwhile, shares in media giant Quebecor Inc. dipped 14 cents to $46.71 after it reported a $45.1-million net loss attributable to shareholders and $52.9 million of adjusted income from continuing operations for its second quarter.
The adjusted earnings equal 85 cents per basic share, up from 72 cents per share or $46.1 million in the second quarter of 2012.
Quebecor is the majority owner of Quebecor Media, which owns a variety of telecommunication, broadcasting and publishing businesses. The earnings came before a federal regulator was to rule later Thursday on whether Quebecor's Sun TV can be carried on basic cable.
In major corporate news, CAE Inc. says it has been chosen to train U.S. Air Force crews to operate Predator and Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, commonly called drones.
The Montreal-based company says the initial one-year services contract is for $20 million U.S. and could be worth up to $100 million U.S. if extended to the maximum.
It also announced a $210-million contract to supply eight flight simulator, related equipment and services to an unidentified customer and a third contract worth an undisclosed amount to provide three mission training simulators for the Royal Australian Air Force.
CAE slightly missed analyst profit expectations even though its net profit more than doubled to $45.6 million in the first quarter of its fiscal year on a 15% growth in revenues primarily due to the strength of its civil simulator and flight training business.
The company earned 18 cents per share attributable to shareholders for the three months ended June 30. That compared to eight cents per share or $21.5 million a year earlier. Its shares jumped 13 cents to $11.91.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that new housing prices rose 0.2% in June, following a 0.1% increase in May. This continued a series of similar gains over the past 15 months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.09 points to 911.22
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at noon, led by metals and mining, spiking 6.8%, while gold gained 5.2%, and materials, up 4.5%.
The four laggards were utilities, down 0.8%, telecoms, off 0.7%, and industrials, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks gave up early gains Thursday as the summer doldrums set in.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13.22 points to break for lunch at 15,483.90
The S&P 500 index restored 3.04 points to 1,693.95. The NASDAQ was better by 20.26 points to 3,674.27
Investors were cheered by some strong quarterly earnings as the reporting season winds down.
Groupon surged after the daily deals site posted strong sales and announced a $300-million U.S. share-buyback program.
Tesla shares rallied after the electric-car maker reported a surprise quarterly profit. Tesla Model S also got the top crash test rating from the government.
Solar City, which is chaired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, reported a wider loss than analysts had expected.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shares fell following quarterly sales figures that missed expectations.
T-Mobile topped revenue forecasts and said it had a net addition of 1.1 million customers during the quarter. Apollo Global Management swung to a quarterly profit and Priceline.com is up after the close.
On the economic front, strong corporate results and a better-than-expected report from the U.S. Labor Department were helping give markets a lift.
The department said jobless claims rose by 5,000 last week to 333,000, slightly lower than expected.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury inched higher, lowering yields to 2.59% from Wednesday’s 2.60%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell back $1.77 to $102.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sprang forward $22.70 to $1,308 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
