Stocks on Bay Street closed well into postive territory Wednesday -- led by a surge in mining stocks -- as investors brushed off news that BCE's leveraged buyout looked to be in trouble.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 200.66 points, to 8,643.52.
BCE Inc said on Wednesday that it was unlikely to close its $34.8 billion leveraged buyout next month, after its accountants ruled the company, which owns Bell Canada, wouldn't meet a solvency test because of the huge debt load involved in the deal.
In other news -- National Bank of Canada, Canada's sixth largest bank, says it expects to take before-tax charges of $237 million for the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31. The before-tax charges, revealed Wednesday, include $117 million related to asset-backed commercial paper, a restructuring charge of $66 million for a streamlining plan announced in September and $54 million for a writedown of tangible assets.
On the data front -- the Census Bureau reported that durable-goods orders declined 6.2 percent in October, a bigger drop than the 2.5 percent expected by economists. The September figure was revised down to a 0.2 percent decline from a 0.8 percent increase.
Also -- the Commerce Department's read on personal income showed a 0.3 percent uptick for October. Analysts had forecast a income growth of 0.1 percent. Spending slowed by 1 percent, a sharper fall than expected by economists and a larger dropoff than the 0.3 percent seen in September.
Weekly initial jobless claims data from the Census Bureau showed claims were down 14,000 to 529,000 for the week ended Nov. 22. The previous claims figures were revised up by 1,000 to 543,000.
Outside of North America -- China's central bank cut its key interest rate by a hefty 1.08 percentage points. The move is aimed at boosting the country's slowing economic growth.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, was trading at 81.41 cents US, down 0.12 of a cent.
BAYSTREET
Twelve of the TSX sub-groups were traded higher today -- mining stocks gained 16.01 percent; energy issues were ahead 7.86 percent and tech stocks gained 5.14 percent.
COMEX gold for February delivery fell $9.20 to $811.30 US an ounce.
On the downside -- telecom stocks were down 10.52 percent.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange rose 11.43 of a point to 731.39 and NASDAQ Canada stocks rose 30.95 points to 446.83.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied Wednesday, marking the market's fourth session of gains in a row, as investors focused on deals in the battered technology sector following gloomy economic data and downcast corporate reports by Deere & Co. and Tiffany & Co.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, down some 168 points earlier in the day, finished up 246.67 points, or 2.9 percent, at 8726.14. The S&P 500 climbed 30.27 points, or 3.5 percent, to 887.66. The Nasdaq surged 67.37 points, or 4.6 percent, to 1532.10.
Twenty-eight of the blue-chip index's 30 components posted gains. General Motors Corp. led the Dow components, rallying more than 35 percent after a Deutsche Bank analyst said the scales are tipping in favor of a federal bailout for the ailing automaker.
Citigroup Inc. rose 16 percent, continuing to climb after the government threw the ailing bank a fresh lifeline on Monday.
Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. fell 1 percent after Fitch Ratings slapped a rare downgrade on the Japanese automaker's pristine credit rating, citing the climate that has driven U.S. rivals ever closer to bankruptcy.
As for the day's corporate earnings, equipment maker Deere announced an 18 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit.
Jeweler Tiffany announced a 57 percent decline in earnings on flagging U.S. sales.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year was adding 1-4/32 to yield 2.98 percent, and the 30-year was up 1-30/32, yielding 3.52 percent. The American dollar was higher vs. the euro, yen and pound.
Oil futures rallied, with crude for January delivery rising $3.67, or 7.2 percent, to end at $52.90 a barrel, after China cut interest rates and Europe announced a $260 billion stimulus package.
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