The Toronto stock market racked up a solid gain Wednesday afternoon as a weaker American currency helped send oil prices surging while investors were encouraged by positive earnings reports.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day up 160.65 points, or 1.6%, to 13,897.48
The Canadian dollar gained 0.32 cents to 104.9 cents U.S.
The TSX energy sector rose as oil prices flirted with the $111 U.S. a barrel level after a report showed U.S. gasoline supplies fell for a second week, suggesting higher fuel costs haven’t yet curbed demand.
The American Petroleum Institute also said crude supplies rose 667,000 barrels while analysts had forecast an increase of 1.6 million barrels.
Suncor Energy rose $1.12 to $42.50 and Canadian Natural Resources was up $1.04 to $44.25.
Encana Corp. said that lower natural gas prices pulled down the company’s first-quarter net earnings, though its gas price hedging program helped compensate for some of the weakness.
Net earnings came in at $78 million U.S., or 11 cents per share compared to a profit of $1.49 billion a year ago, or $1.96 per share, when the company booked an accounting impact from its hedging program. Its shares were up a penny at $31.19 as the company missed expectations.
Record high gold prices pushed the TSX gold sector up. Barrick Gold improved 53 cents to $52.31 and Kinross Gold Inc. was up 11 cents to $14.64.
The base metals sector was up as the May copper contract in New York rose 11 cents to $4.34 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources was 94 cents higher to $52.56 and Quadra FNX Mining ran up $1.43 to $15.58.
Financials were ahead, with TD Bank rose $1.20 to $82.31 and Manulife Financial advanced 16 cents to $16.65.
Consumer discretionary stocks were also higher with Canadian Tire ahead 75 cents to $61.28 while Gildan Activewear advanced 65 cents to $34.76.
Canadian grocer Metro Inc. said first-quarter profits rose 3.7% to $83.3 million, or 80 cents a share, from $80.3 million a year earlier, or 74 cents per share. Sales declined 0.4% to $2.57 billion but the company’s shares ticked 32 cents higher to $47.03.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange vaulted 29.49 points to 2,262.89 while the Nasdaq Canada index was positive 14.64 points to 759.19
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups stayed in positive country
Metals and mining leaped 3.2%, global base metals improved 2.2%, and energy plays grew 2.1%.
Only a 0.5% drop by health-care stocks kept things from being unanimous.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks surged higher on Wednesday, with the Dow rising nearly 200 points and the Nasdaq rising 2%, as Wall Street rallied behind solid earnings results out of the technology sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average popped 186.79 points, or 1.5%, to end the day’s trading at 12,453.50
The S&P 500 prospered 17.74 points to 1,330.36, while the Nasdaq Composite Index hiked 57.54 points to 2,802.51.
Wednesday's rally was all about tech earnings, with Intel, Yahoo and IBM all reporting solid results after the close on Tuesday.
Intel shares rose nearly 8%, making it among the best performers on the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow.
Yahoo shares rose 4.7%, while IBM shares edged down 0.4%.
Also bolstering the tech sector was software developer VMWare, which jumped 14% a day after reporting strong earnings.
United Technologies reported a profit of $1.11 U.S. per share Wednesday, up 19% from a year earlier. The aerospace and machinery maker's stock jumped 4%, making it the second-best performer on the Dow after Intel.
Wells Fargo reported quarterly net income of $3.8 billion U.S., up 48% from a year earlier. But Wells Fargo's stock dipped 4% as investors wondered when the troubled banking sector is going to get back on track.
Investors eagerly awaited results from Apple, which reported after the closing bell.
Earnings are expected to jump to $5.35 U.S. a share, bolstered by sales of the Verizon iPhone and the iPad. Shares of Apple rose more than 2%
International power company AES announced that it will buy DPL, the parent company of Dayton Power & Light Company, for $4.7 billion U.S.. Shares of AES rose 3%, while Dayton Power's stock jumped 9%.
Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast. BP shares rose nearly 3%, but overall are down about 26% from a year ago.
On the economic ledger, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 3.7% in March, better than what economists had expected.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped, boosting the yield to 3.40% from Tuesday’s 3.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery raced ahead $4.15 to $111.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery settled up $3.80 at $1,498.90 U.S. an ounce after breaching a new intraday trading high of $1,506.20 U.S. in the morning.
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