The Toronto stock market was higher Thursday as further signs of U.S. economic growth helped lift most sectors, including financials even as TD Bank delivered quarterly earnings that narrowly missed expectations.
The S&P TSX Composite Index remained ahead 107.31 points to 12,111.09.
TD said its profits grew 29% in the third quarter to $1.18 billion thanks to lower loan losses and strong earnings in its domestic retail business.
However, on an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $1.43, falling a penny short of analyst expectations according to Thomson Reuters. But its stock gained 94 cents to $73.06.
In other earnings news, Laurentian Bank reported that its net income increased by five per cent to $30.1 million in the third quarter as the Montreal-based bank’s revenues grew to $188.8 million. Its shares faded 76 cents to $46.80.
Elsewhere in the sector, Bank of Montreal rose 73 cents to $59.42, while Scotiabank rose 99 cents to $52.24.
The information technology sector was also strong, with Celestica ahead 21 cents at $8.34, while CGI Group rose 48 cents to $15.02.
Shares in Research In Motion Ltd. were up a penny at $46.49 after the chief of the United Nations’ telecommunications agency urged the BlackBerry manufacturer to allow foreign law enforcement agencies access to its customers’ data. A standoff between RIM and foreign governments over access to customers’ data has sunk the company’s share price about 20% since the end of July.
Eldorado Gold Corp. gained 36 cents to $20.57, while Goldcorp Inc. was ahead 44 cents at $46.14
Consumer discretionary stocks were also higher with Gildan Activewear ahead $1.01 to $29.97.
The base metals sector was ahead with the December copper contract up one cent at $3.49 U.S. on top of a three per cent run-up on Wednesday. Lundin Mining lost a cent to $4.55 while Teck Resources improved by $1.14 to $38.78.
In the oil patch, Suncor Energy advanced five cents to $33.78, and Talisman Energy advanced seven cents to $17.20.
In other corporate news, Alberta pension fund manager AIMCo says it had been approached by some government wealth funds and others to make a bid for fertilizer giant PotashCorp.
But AIMCo CEO Leo de Bever said Thursday he’s had trouble working out the economics of a bid to rival the $38.6-billion U.S. deal offered by Australian-based global miner BHP Billiton. De Bever added it’s not AIMCo’s intention to get involved in a bid for political reasons.
Potashcorp shares were ahead $2.56 at $156.46.
Harry Winston Diamond Corp. said it earned $16.5 million U.S. in its second quarter, reversing a year-ago loss as sales were up 62% to $153.7 million U.S. The company’s shares were up $2.07, or 19.3%, at $12.82.
Satellite company Com Dev International Ltd. is replacing chief executive John Keating, effective immediately. The move comes after the company’s recent warning of a looming loss and falling revenues. Its shares gained nine cents to $1.83.
Garda World Security Corp. shares gained 64 cents to $8.79 as it reported that its profit rose 31% in the second quarter to $5.3 million.
The Montreal-based company, which operates armoured trucks and provides cash logistics services to the banking industry along with security at airports and other locations, said earnings were equal to 17 cents per diluted share, two cents better than expectations.
The Canadian dollar backslid 0.03 cents to 94.94 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher on the day. Information technology led the charge, with a 1.7% gain, while gold jumped 1.5%, and materials picked up 1.3%.
The only losing group was consumer staples, and only 0.2% at that.
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 13.62 points to close at 1,531.25, while the Nasdaq Canada index picked up 4.10 points to 566.20.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities rose late Thursday, ending a listless session near the day's highs, as investors prepare for a critical jobs report due out Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average squeezed out a gain of 50.63 points, to 10,320.10
The S&P 500 index garnered 23.17 points to 1,090.10. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index moved ahead 23.17 points to 2,200.01.
Stocks were supported by better-than-expected sales from major U.S. retailers, an increase in pending home sales and a modest dip in initial claims for unemployment benefits. But the tone was relatively subdued following a big rally on Wednesday and ahead of the government's monthly jobs report on Friday.
The labour market has been a major source of worry on Wall Street. Consumer spending, which drives the bulk of U.S. economic activity, is closely linked to unemployment.
In particular, investors are eager to see signs that private sector employers could begin hiring again as public sector jobs related to the Census have disappeared.
Economists expect the report to show that employers cut 120,000 jobs in August after payrolls fell by 131,000 in July, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com. The unemployment rate is forecast to rise slightly to 9.6%.
Meanwhile, trading volumes continued to be light as many market participants are on vacation this week. On the New York Stock Exchange, just under one billion shares traded hands.
IBM and American Express led decliners on the Dow, while Boeing), 3M and Home Depot made decent headway. Of the 30 stocks in the blue-chip average, 24 were higher.
After closing out a dismal August, stocks rallied more than 2% on Wednesday to start September on a strong note. But the market is still down between 1.6% and 3.6% year to date.
Shares of Mariner Energy fell 2.5% after a fire occurred on an oil and gas production platform the company owns in the Gulf of Mexico.
All 13 people onboard the Vermilion 380 have been accounted for, Mariner said. They are currently investigating the causes of the incident. The company said an initial flyover found no indication that oil or gas had leaked as a result of the fire.
Burger King said Thursday that it has agreed to be acquired by investment firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $4 billion U.S. Shares of the fast-food company rose 25% after surging 14% in the previous session on rumours of the deal.
HP raised its offer to buy data storage company 3PAR to $33 U.S. per share, topping a $32 U.S. bid from Dell. The computer makers have been engaged in a bidding war for 3PAR since Dell made an $18 per share offer on Aug. 16.
Economically speaking, weekly U.S. jobless claim figures dipped slightly, by 6,000 claims, to 472,000 in the week ended Aug. 28. Economists expected the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance to have edged up slightly last week to 475,000.
Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, dropped to 4.456 million in the week ended Aug. 21, down 23,000 from the previous week.
A majority of retailers reported surprisingly strong August same-store sales as consumers responded to back-to-school deals and tax holidays. Sales tracker Thomson Reuters said 65% of the retailers in its index that have reported sales so far have beat expectations.
Shares of major retailers were higher in early trading. JC Penny, Macy's and Nordstrom led the charge.
Pending home sales, a forward-looking gauge, rose 5.2% in July, according to an index from the National Association of Realtors. But the index, which is based on contracts signed in the month, was down over 19% from July 2009.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected pending home sales would be flat in July
Separately, the government said factory orders rose 0.1% in July, versus a forecasted 0.3% gain.
But the Commerce Department said orders fell 0.6% in June, an improvement over the originally reported 1.5% drop.
The U.S. Labor Department said labour productivity in the nonfarm business sector fell at an annual rate of 1.8% in the second quarter of 2010. The drop came as hours worked increased 3.5%, the largest quarterly gain in over four years, and output rose 1.6%.
The drop in productivity was roughly in line with estimates from private sector economists.
Treasury prices fell early Thursday, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 2.63% from 2.58% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil improved a dollar to $74.91 U.S.
Gold prices gained five dollars to $1,253 U.S. an ounce.
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