Stocks on Bay Street traded higher Thursday -- as investors brushed of Teck Cominco Ltd's news of huge layoffs and Wal-Mart Inc's. surprise December sales figures that widely missed expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 100.26 points to 9,221.58.
Teck Cominco Ltd. will cut about 1,400 jobs, or 13 percent of its staff, as part of its plan to clip costs and keep competitive as commodity prices remain weak, the Canadian mining company said on Thursday. Teck, which expects to save about $85 million annually with the job cuts, also said it plans to reduce 2009 coal production to 20 million tonnes due to declining global demand.
In other news -- shares in Goldcorp Inc. were ahead 59 cents to $33.59 after the company said fourth-quarter gold production hit record 692,000 ounces while 2008 production came in above 2.3-million-ounce forecast. It added that its 2009 production target is unchanged at 2.3 million ounces while spending is expected at about $1.4 billion in 2009.
Health Sciences firm MDS Inc. said Thursday its final financial results for the its fiscal fourth quarter are nearly twice as grim as numbers projected last month. MDS reported a fourth-quarter loss of US$575 million, revised from the unaudited $255 million loss it announced in December and down sharply from year-earlier profits of $15 million or 13 cents per share.
Drugstore chain Jean Coutu Group Inc. reported a loss of $399.2 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, reversing a year-earlier profits of $9.5 million. A change in Jean Coutu's fiscal year-end means the company's third-quarter results are being compared with those reported during the second quarter of 2008.
On the data front -- the number of U.S. workers remaining on jobless rolls hit a new 26-year high. But the number filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 last week, much better than the expectation for 545,000.
Overseas, the Bank of England lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 1.5 percent, the lowest rate since the bank's founding in the late 17th century.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, traded 1.27 cents higher at 84.90 cents US.
BAYSTREET
Six of the TSX sub-groups traded higher today -- gold stocks were ahead 4.64 percent; health-care issues were up 2.25 percent and energy stocks were up 1.88 percent.
COMEX gold for February delivery rose $12.80 to settle at $854.50 US an ounce.
On the downside -- tech stocks were off 1.82 percent followed by a 1.74 percent drop in real-estate issues and a 1.31 percent slide in consumer discretionary stocks.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange was up 11.15 points to 899.47 and the NASDAQ Canada was ahead 2.92 points at 483.55.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks on Thursday scaled back early losses as Sears Holdings Corp.'s forecast helped lift the Nasdaq Composite and offset disappointment that came after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut its earnings expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average down 118 points earlier in the session, ended lower by 27.24 points, or 0.3 percent, at 8742.46. The S&P 500 edged up 3.08 points, or 0.3 percent, at 909.73, and the Nasdaq gained 17.95 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1617.01.
Retail numbers began to roll in much lower than expected.
Among them, Wal-Mart said its December same-store sales were worse than Wall Street expected, rising by a meager 1.7 percent, and the retailer reined in its fourth quarter guidance.
Target said December sales increased 0.2 percent, but same-store sales fell 4.1 percent; Costco said its same-store sales also decreased 4 percent.
Macy's said it will close underperforming stores. Gap said December sales fell 12 percent, and Abercrombie & Fitch said sales slumped 18 percent and same-store sales took a 24 percent hit.
In a bright spot -- Sears shares added 19 percent Thursday morning after the company forecast quarterly profit above Wall Street estimates.
Longer dated Treasuries were mixed early Thursday afternoon; the 10-year note was climbing 9.5/32 to yield 2.5 percent after an auction of $16 billion of reopened 10-year notes, and the 30-year was down 6/32, yielding 3 percent.
U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 93 cents to settle at $41.70 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after slumping 12 percent Wednesday.
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