The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday morning amid a mixed slate of earnings reports and a strong reading on U.S. retail sales.
The S&P/TSX composite index picked up 52 points to greet noon at 13,733.70
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.61 cents to 91.48 cents U.S.
Corus Entertainment Inc. posted adjusted net income of $55.2 million, or 65 cents a share, three cents higher than estimates. Revenue was $226 million, up from $209 million a year earlier and just short of estimates.
Corus also said it is raising its dividend 7% and its shares jumped 75 cents to $25.34.
Shaw Communications Inc. reports it had $245 million of net income, or 51 cents per share, in the quarter ended Nov. 30. That's up from $235 million or 50 cents per share a year earlier and two cents above analyst estimates.
Shaw's revenue rose 3.3% to $1.362 billion, beating estimates of $1.358 billion but its shares fell 78 cents to $24.53 as RBC Capital Markets noted that employee bonuses and programming costs weighed on margins.
On Monday night, telecommunications and media company Cogeco Inc. reported quarterly profit of $23.1 million, or $1.37 per diluted share, up from $18.5 million, or $1.10 per share, in the same year-earlier period. Revenue soared 41% to $517 million from $366.6 million.
Its main subsidiary, Cogeco Cable Inc. saw its quarterly revenue soar 44.9% to $475 million, missing expectations of $478,.35 million. Net profit increased to $49.7 million or $1.01 per diluted share, up from $42.1 million or 86 cents per diluted share a year ago but missing forecasts by three cents.
Cogeco Inc. gained 38 cents to $48.88 while Cogeco Cable was ahead 65 cents to $50.97.
March copper was down a cent at $3.34 U.S. a pound but the TSX base metals sector charged ahead as Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded Thompson Creek Metals from underperform to buy. Its stock jumped 16.9% to $2.77.
Elsewhere in the sector, Sherritt International improved by seven cents to $3.68.
The telecom sector advanced as bidding for a coveted piece of Canada's wireless market was to start today. The 700-megahertz waves are particularly valuable because they allow cellphone signals to travel longer distances and penetrate buildings and tunnels where calls are often dropped.
In all, 10 players are in the game, including Canada's big three telecom companies, Bell, Rogers and Telus.
Telus was the strongest performer in the group, ahead 53 cents to $37.34.
The gold sector edged up while Iamgold climbed 20 cents to $4.36, and Kinross Gold was ahead seven cents to $5.04.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 0.46 points to 965.34
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rebounded a bit Tuesday as investors cheered results from some of the nation's largest financial institutions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 78.19 points to break for lunch 16,336.13, after a plunge Monday of more than 170 points
The S&P 500 index regained 16.60 points to 1,835.80. The NASDAQ recouped 60.50 points to 4,173.81, led by a more than 3% gain in Intel, following positive analyst reports about the chip giant.
Investors turned to bank earnings to get a sense of the economy's health.
JPMorgan Chase posted a fourth-quarter profit of $5.3 billion U.S., including a $1.1 billion write-off for legal expenses. But earnings topped expectations.
Shares of JPMorgan rose on the news.
The bank has settled numerous lawsuits in the past year, including over its behavior in the run-up to the mortgage crisis and for turning a blind eye to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.
Wells Fargo also released earnings that slightly beat estimates, though it reported a big drop in mortgage activity. Shares were down early in the trading session.
Investors are readying themselves for a slew of quarterly earnings announcements over the coming weeks. Four other big banks are due to report their results later this week: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley
Shares of Microsoft were up modestly despite a downgrade from Citigroup. Wall Street has become increasingly anxious over the tech giant's search for a successor.
Google moved higher after the search engine announced Monday afternoon that it was buying connected device maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion U.S.
Also on Monday, Charter Communications said it had formally proposed acquiring Time Warner Cable. Time Warner Cable flatly rejected the offer. Shares of both companies were up in early trading.
Shares of GameStop tanked 19% after the video game retailer reported weak holiday season sales.
Economically speaking, retail sales for December came in slightly better than expected, as retailers offered big promotions due to a shortened holiday season.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell, raising yields to 2.86% from Monday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices remained positive 50 cents to $92.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $8.40 to $1,242.70 U.S. an ounce.
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