Canadian stocks rose as commodity producers gained after U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech and a government report on housing fueled optimism the economy is improving.
The S&P/TSX composite index mushroomed toward the close, rocketing up 206.12 points, or 1.6%, to 13,465.75
The Canadian dollar inched higher 0.13 cents to 100.45 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s biggest oil and gas producer, advanced 4% to $39.10, as crude futures rebounded from an eight-week low. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, rose 6.8% to $119.51 as the metal rallied. Oilfield services company Trinidad Drilling Ltd. climbed 5.5% to $6.68, the most since Dec. 21.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second largest energy company by market value, climbed 3.1% to $42.64. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-biggest energy company rose 4% to $32.72.
Capstone Mining Corp. rose 6.2% to $4.60. The copper producer with operations in Canada and Mexico affirmed its forecast for 2011 copper production.
Magna International Inc., Canada’s biggest autoparts company, rose 2.5% to $58.22, after Citigroup Inc. included the shares among its top picks.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 2.9% to $68.26. The country’s second-largest railroad said fourth-quarter earnings were $1.12 a share on an adjusted basis, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.08, according to a Bloomberg survey.
There were no economic reports over which investors can mull today.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 47.82 points to 2,250.50, while the Nasdaq Canada index grew 11.49 points to 766.74.
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups remained positive throughout the day. Materials and gold soared 3.6% each, and metals and mining stocks climbed 3.4%.
Financials proved the lone naysayer, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities held onto gains Wednesday afternoon, with the Dow still hovering near the 12,000 mark, after the Fed kept rates steady and left its bond-buying plan alone.
The Dow Jones Industrials clawed 8.25 points into the green to finish at 11,985.40.
The S&P 500 was 5.45 points better to 1,296.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index was 20.25 points higher to 2,739.50.
Earlier in the session, the Dow rose as much as 43 points, or 0.4%, to 12,020.52, hitting its highest intraday level since June 20, 2008. However, the index is still far from its all-time intraday high of 14,198.10, reached Oct. 11, 2007.
Toyota (TM) announced it is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles worldwide for issues that could result in fuel leakage. News of the recall sent shares of the automaker 2.1% lower.
Shares of home improvement retail chain Lowe's edged up 1.4% after the company said it is cutting 1,700 managerial jobs while adding up to 10,000 part-time workers in order to better staff its stores for weekend shoppers.
Shares of online content creator Demand Media rose 37% Wednesday as the company made its public debut, raising $66.5 million U.S. in an IPO that valued the company at more than $1 billion U.S.
Shares of media conglomerate Nielsen were up 11% as the company also made its public debut.
Xerox was among the biggest losers on the S&P 500, with shares dropping more than 7%. The company issued a disappointing outlook and announced its Chief Financial Officer Larry Zimmerman will retire next month.
US Airways posted its first quarterly profit since 2006 and widely beat Wall Street forecasts, lifting shares of the airline by 7.4%.
Shares of Yahoo slipped 3.4% after the company reported quarterly results late Tuesday that missed expectations and announced more layoffs.
Eastman Kodak's stock sank more than 16% after the company posted a fourth-quarter profit that plunged 95% from a year earlier. Revenue dropped 25% and missed expectations.
After the market close Wednesday, coffee chain Starbucks is slated to report its quarterly earnings. Shares were 2% lower.
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve announced its unanimous decision to leave interest rates unchanged near historic lows and continue to move forward with its $600-billion U.S. bond buying program to stimulate the economy.
In its first meeting of 2011, the central bank also said it remains cautious about the economic recovery.
Elsewhere, new home sales climbed 17.5% in December to the highest level in eight months, the government reported Wednesday.
Sales of newly built single-family homes rose to an annual rate of 329,000 units last month, from a revised 280,000 units the month before, the Commerce Department said. That was the highest level since April. But compared with 2009, sales are down 7.6%.
The monthly sales figure was higher than the annual rate of 300,000 that analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had expected.
Prices on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury hit the brakes, boosting the yield to 3.43% from Tuesday’s 3.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery shot higher $1.30 to $87.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose 70 cents to settle $1,330.00 U.S. an ounce.
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