The Toronto stock market was little changed Thursday amid a mixed showing for corporate earnings reports and economic data from China and the United States.
The S&P/TSX composite index finished the day ahead 12.20 points to 14,664.07
The Canadian dollar inched forward 0.03 cents at 91.26 cents U.S.
Manulife Financial's first-quarter net profit jumped 50% to $818 million, or 42 cents per share. Core earnings, excluding one-time items, were up at $719 million, or 37 cents, compared with $619 million, or 32 cents, year over year.
Analysts had expected 39 cents a share but its shares still ticked 16 cents higher to $20.74 as rising wealth sales compensated for lower insurance sales.
Transportation company Bombardier Inc. posted first-quarter net income of $115 million U.S., or earnings per share of six cents, compared with $148 million, or eight cents, in the same period of 2013.
Ex-items, earnings were eight cents a share, which was in line with expectations and its shares fell 26 cents, or 5.9%, to $4.15.
Imperial Oil Ltd. recovered 18 cents to $53.70 as the energy company earned a first-quarter net profit of $946 million, or $1.11 per share, up 19% from $798 million, or 94 cents per share, in the same quarter in 2013.
Revenue and other income increased to $9.22 billion compared with $8.01 billion year-over-year.
Goldcorp Inc. earned $98 million U.S. or 12 cents a share in its latest quarter as increased gold sales offset lower prices. That's down from $309 million or 33 cents per share a year ago.
Ex-items, profit came in at $209 million or 26 cents per share, compared with an adjusted profit of $253 million or 31 cents per share in the first quarter of 2013 and its shares added five cents to $27.12.
July copper edged a penny lower to $3.02 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector subsided, as Teck Resources’ shares hiked 55 cents to $25.53.
Health-care stocks proved the runaway winner among gaining subgroups, as Catamaran Corp. triumphed $4.76, or 11.4%, to $46.40.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 5.02 points to 1,006.52
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, led by health-care, haler by 4.4%, information technology, clicking 1.2% higher, and the metals and mining group, up 0.6%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by gold, down 1.1%, energy, off 0.5%, and global base metals, trailing 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors were trying to push U.S. stocks to record highs on Thursday, but fell short of it in afternoon trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 21.97 points to end Thursday at 16,558.87
The S&P 500 fell into the red 0.27 points to 1,883.68, and the NASDAQ composite index remained positive 12.89 points to 4,127.45.
MasterCard rallied 2% after the card giant logged stronger-than-expected results powered by double-digit volume growth.
ExxonMobil flirted with an all-time high as investors cheered the energy giant's big earnings beat and largely overlooked a modest revenue miss.
Shares of Avon Products tumbled 12% to the lowest stock value since 2000 as investors fretted about the cosmetic company's big earnings miss amid an 11% drop in revenue. Avon also put to bed a long-running bribery probe by agreeing to pay $135 million in fines to U.S. regulators.
Sony Corp fell almost 2% after slashing its profit outlook and projecting a first-quarter loss.
Shares of DirectTV spiked 5% on talk that AT&T may be making a bid for the satellite TV company.
T-Mobile US popped 7% amid renewed speculation of a tie-up with Sprint. T-Mobile, the fourth largest U.S. wireless provider, also said it added 1.3 million subscribers in the first quarter, although that didn't prevent a loss of $151 million U.S.
Confirming recent reports, Ford said CEO Alan Mulally will step down on July and be succeeded by Mark Fields, who has served as chief operating officer since late 2012. Ford stock was down over 1% on Thursday.
Also, KFC and Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands said Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed will replace David Novak in January. Yum stock was also trading lower.
Meanwhile, tech stocks enjoyed a bounce, allowing the NASDAQ to outperform its peers. Investors gobbled up shares of depressed Internet and social media stocks like Yelp, Pandora Media and SINA. The rally comes ahead of LinkedIn's earnings call after the closing bell.
On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management's index on U.S. manufacturing climbed above forecasts in April, indicating a pickup in activity.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to a nine-week high of 344,000 last week, well ahead of estimates. The government also said consumer spending jumped by a stronger-than-expected 0.9% in March, the fastest pace since August 2009.
But the focus will shift after the closing bell to the government's all-important jobs report. Economists predict the U.S. added 210,000 new jobs in April, bringing the unemployment down to 6.6% from 6.7%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained strength, lowering yields to 2.61% from Wednesday’s 2.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 31 cents to $99.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $10.50 to $1,285.40 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
