Bay Street stocks moved slightly higher amid uncertain trading on Wednesday after falling in each of the last two sessions. The market came off its highs of the day after the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement.
Soon before the closing bell, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 53.78 points, off its highs for the day, but a gain nonetheless after two straight downward sessions, to 10,683.25.
Telecommunications stocks were up, as Rogers Communications added 1.5% to $29.70 and Bell Canada added 1.8% at $25.54 and Telus was up 1.5% to $33.70.
Energy stocks gained, as Baytex added 5.4% to $23.73, Suncor surged 2.8% to $35.90 and Canadian Natural Resources added 0.8% to $62.69.
In corporate news, CAE Inc. gained 7% at $8.45 after the company reported first-quarter net earnings of $27.2 million or $0.11 per share, compared to $47.3 million or $0.19 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Pan American Silver declined 3% to $20.41 after the company reported net income for the second quarter of $10.2 million U.S. or $0.12 U.S. per basic share, compared to $21.36 million U.S. or $0.26 U.S. per share in the year-ago quarter.
Finning International fell 11.1% to $16.85 after the company posted second-quarter net income of $48 million or $0.28 per share, compared to $67 million or $0.39 per share in the previous-year quarter.
Jovian Capital Corp. was flat at $6.00 per share, after the company reported first quarter net loss of $3.9 million or $0.46 per share, compared to a loss of $2.8 million or $0.35 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Manulife Financial Corp. will acquire the retail investment business of AIC Ltd. from billionaire founder Michael Lee-Chin, according to reports. Terms were not disclosed. Manulife shares were up 1.3% to $22.47.
Novadaq Technologies dropped 3.7% to $2.89 despite reporting its net loss for the quarter narrowed to $3.36 million U.S. or $0.14 U.S. per share from $4.37 million U.S. or $0.18 U.S. per share in the previous year.
Ag Growth International added 5.9% to $31.85 after the company reported second-quarter net earnings of $16.43 million or $1.28 per share, compared to $7.46 million or $0.58 per share in the same quarter of last year. Sales for the quarter were $66.84 million, compared to $55.95 million in the prior-year quarter.
Brookfield Properties gained 1.2% to $11.43 after the company said it has entered into agreements for the sale of 95 million of its common shares at a price of $9.50 U.S. per share.
Cardiome Pharma was down 7.3% to $4.31 after the company had its target price reduced to $9 from $11.50 at RBC Capital Markets. The stock maintained its Sector Rating.
On the economic front, data released Wednesday morning showed Canadian international merchandise trade deficit was $100 million, compared to a revised deficit of $1.1 billion for May. A deficit of $500 million was forecast by analysts.
The Canadian dollar was 1.09 cents stronger, at 91.85 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher, led by real-estate, ahead 1.3%, while telecoms and energy stocks prospered 1.2% each.
The three losing groups were gold, off 0.7%. Health-care and materials stocks were down 0.3% each.
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 9.18 points, to 1,186.02, while the Nasdaq Canada Index sidled back 3.22 points to 718.57.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks sustained gains Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates near historic lows and signaled the economy has finally started to stabilize.
The Dow Jones Industrials roared ahead 120.16 points, or 1.3%, to 9,361.61. The S&P 500 index gained 11.46 points to 1,005.81. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite picked up 28.99 points to 1,998.72.
Stocks rallied leading into the announcement as signs of improvement in the housing market pushed investors back into stocks following a two-day retreat. The market initially pulled back a bit in the minutes after the Fed release, but investors redoubled their efforts about an hour before the close.
As expected, the central bank held the fed funds rate, a key short-term bank lending rate, at historic lows near 0%. The Fed first cut the rate to that level last December to help the struggling economy, which had already been in a recession for a year.
In the closely watched policy statement, the central bank said it will maintain exceptionally low interest rates for an extended period of time. The bankers said that although economic activity is likely to remain weak, activity is "leveling out" and financial market conditions appear to have improved.
The statement has a slightly more positive tone than in recent months, but continued to indicate caution, according to some experts.
The stock advance was broad-based, with financial, technology and other shares rebounding after sliding Monday and Tuesday. Stocks had fallen in anticipation of the Fed meeting, with investors cashing out after several up weeks.
With the exception of a pullback in late June, the S&P 500 has basically been on the rise for five months. Since bottoming in early March, the index has gained 50% through the end of last week.
After the close Tuesday, Applied Materials reported a fiscal third-quarter loss versus a profit a year ago on weaker revenue. However, the results were better than what analysts were expecting.
The chipmaker also said it would at least break even in the fiscal fourth quarter and potentially post a profit of up to four cents U.S. per share. Analysts expect the company to lose five cents U.S. per share. AMAT shares gained 3% Wednesday.
Among stock movers, gains were broad-based, with 28 of 30 Dow components rising. The Dow's run was led by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, United Technologies and Wal-Mart Stores.
Economically speaking, the trade gap widened to $27 billion U.S. in June, the Commerce Department reported. The deficit stood at $26 billion U.S. in May, a 10-year low. The deficit was expected to widen to $28.7 billion U.S. in June, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The median home price plunged a record 15.6% during the second quarter, versus a year earlier, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.
But on a more upbeat note, the median home price rose 4% in the quarter versus the first quarter of 2009, rising to $174,100 from $167,300.
In another positive sign, homebuilder Toll Brothers said the number of signed contracts rose in its just-completed quarter for the first time in four years, although the dollar value of the contracts fell. The luxury homebuilder also said the percentage of cancelled contracts dropped versus a year ago. Shares gained 11% Wednesday.
A majority of economists think the recession has now ended, according to a Wall Street Journal survey conducted over the last few days. With manufacturing starting to pick up and the housing market closer to stabilizing, GDP is expected to grow modestly in the third quarter, after falling for four straight quarters.
Treasury prices slid, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.73% from Tuesday’s 3.67%, after the government's auction of $23 billion U.S. in 10-year notes saw demand mostly in line with recent sales. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The government is auctioning $75 billion U.S. in debt this week as part of its efforts to reduce the deficit and fuel its recovery efforts.
Treasury's Tuesday auction of $37 billion U.S. in three-year notes saw stronger demand than other recent auctions. On Friday, Treasury sells $15 billion U.S. in 30-year bonds.
The price of a barrel of oil tacked on 61 cents to $70.19 U.S.
Gold prices added $5 to $953 U.S. an ounce.
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