The Toronto stock market remained above water midday Tuesday, as traders digested earnings news and awaited U.S. data on home prices and consumer confidence.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 19.26 points to greet noon at 15,464.48.
The Canadian dollar toppled 0.44 cents at 92.17 cents U.S.
WestJet beat forecasts for profit and revenue as it posted a net profit of $51.8 million, or 40 cents per share, up from $44.7 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 10.3% to $930.7 million.
And Talisman Energy posted a surprise loss of $237 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with a profit $97 million, or nine cents, per share in the same quarter of 2013 due, in part, to an after-tax impairment charge and a non-cash mark-to-market loss on commodity derivatives.
Cash flow was $567 million, or 55 cents per share, in the quarter, which met expectations.
It is a very heavy week for Canadian corporate earnings news and investors will consider reports from food company George Weston later in the morning.
The accent is on the resource sector this week with several big names from the energy and gold mining sectors reporting, including heavyweights Barrick Gold, Suncor Energy and Cenovus Energy.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed below breakeven by 6.72 points to 1,013.13
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, as telecoms picked up 0.8%, global base metals, ahead 0.7%, and metals and mining, up 0.6%.
The two laggards were information technology, down 0.9%, and gold, off 0.2%. Health-care issues were flat midday.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks continued not to do much approaching noon ET on Tuesday -- a day after the market was mostly spinning its wheels.
The Dow Jones Industrials were off their morning highs, to retain only 0.20 points, greeting noon at 16,982.79.
The S&P 500 settled 1.85 points to 1,977.06. The NASDAQ composite stayed up 8.06 points to 4,452.97.
The New York Times reported a bad quarter, with earnings plunging and coming short of analyst projections amid higher costs. The stock is down almost 6%.
Shipping giant UPS reported earnings that were short of what Wall Street was expecting, and its stock is down more than 3%. Profits in U.S. package deliveries, its second-biggest unit, were down 81.5% from the same time last year.
Apple is less than 2% from an all-time high, with the stock inching closer to $100 U.S.
Chicken chain El Pollo Loco, after a spectacular rally following its IPO, is down more than 9%. The company's shares more than doubled their offering price in just three trading days.
Darden Restaurants, the company that owns the Olive Garden and recently sold Red Lobster, told investors that chairman and CEO Clarence Otis would be stepping down after the end of the year. David Hughes, a board member, will be following him out the door.
The moves leave three seats open at Darden's board of directors, and the company has promised them to activist investors who had been pushing for a shake-up. Its shares are 3% higher.
Herbalife, the nutritional supplement producer that has been going to war with hedge fund investor Bill Ackman over his huge bet against the company, reported earnings that disappointed for the first time in a while.
The stock, which soared after investors dismissed Ackman's latest presentation against Herbalife, is down more than 11%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, dropping yields to 2.47% from Monday’s 2.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.04 to $100.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices descended $4.20 to $1,299.10 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
