Toronto's main stock index opened higher on Thursday, buoyed by hopes that Italy and Greece -- this fall’s economic sick men of Europe -- could be set to usher in new governments and press ahead with reforms.
The S&P/TSX composite index began the day up 16.19 points, to 12,172.41
The Canadian dollar regained 0.46 cents to 98.13 cents U.S.
Among Canadian stocks to watch this morning, Research In Motion, which was probing reports some users experienced delays, but said on Wednesday it was not fighting an outage similar to the one that took down its service for four days last month.
Enerplus Corp. realized a third-quarter profit helped by higher realized prices.
Technology whiz CGI Group. posted a 13% fall in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by a restructuring charge.
Oil and gas producer Niko Resources Ltd. also suffered a quarterly loss, hurt by lower production and a change in its accounting estimates.
Provident Energy said its quarterly profit more than triipled, helped by stronger demand for natural gases and liquids.
Copper miner Quadra FNX’s third-quarter net profit jumped more than seven-fold, mainly on non-cash adjustments.
Oil and gas explorer Birchcliff Energy reported its third-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by higher average production, but the company expects full-year production to be lower than its initial estimates due to severe weather conditions.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported a trade surplus with the rest of the world for the first time since last January. Our merchandise exports improved 4.2% in September, with imports sliding 0.3%. As a result, Canada's trade balance with the world went from a deficit of $487 million in August to a surplus of $1.2 billion in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 8.57 points to 1,629.57, while the Nasdaq Canada index gave back 4.03 points to 404.79
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups began the day positive, led by health-care issues, 1.4% healthier, energy, 1.1% more energetic, and consumer discretionaries, 1% more robust.
The three laggards were metals and mining, sliding but 0.2%, materials, off 0.1%, and gold, down 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks bounced back resoundingly from the previous day's rout, as investors grew hopeful that European officials will make a move to stop the euro-zone crisis from getting worse.
Talk of an emergency meeting by the European Central Bank added fuel to that sentiment, along with a decent auction of Italian bonds.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped from the starting blocks 103.99 points to 11,884.90
The S&P 500 recovered 9.73 points to 1,238.83, while the Nasdaq Composite Index poked ahead 5.07 points to 2,626.72.
Speaking of companies, Cisco posted a fourth straight quarter of declining earnings late Wednesday, but reported more than 12% growth in its video and collaboration divisions. Shares of the networking giant rallied more than 6% in premarket trading.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters reported earnings that widely missed expectations Wednesday. Shares of the coffee company tumbled more than 20% in early trading Thursday.
On Wednesday, yields on 10-year Italian bonds spiked to 7.48%, marking the highest level since the euro launched in 1999. The 7% level sparked fear among investors, sending them fleeing for the exits on worries that yields would continue to move higher -- eventually leading to Italy needing a bailout.
Italy is the world's eighth largest economy and Europe's fourth largest. It also maintains the biggest bond market in Europe. With yields still hovering around that 7% level, sentiment is far from optimistic.
It's a psychological trigger for investors, since 7% was the level that heightened worries about Greece, Ireland and Portugal. All three eventually needed some type of bailout.
Experts say, though, that the initial bounce is likely to be more of a technical move, rather than in response to improving sentiment.
U.S. stocks sold off sharply from the start of trading Wednesday, as fears that Italy was heading deeper into crisis mode shook investors. The selling intensified in the afternoon, amid reports that European Union officials said they had no plans to rescue Italy.
Economically speaking, the number of jobless Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance dropped 10,000 to a seven-month low of 390,000 in the latest week. The expectation was for jobless claims to increase to 400,000 last week, from 397,000 in the previous week.
U.S. import prices fell 0.6% in October, after remaining unchanged in September. Export prices fell 2.1% in October -- the largest monthly decline since December 2008, when export prices fell 2.2%.
Moreover, America’s international trade deficit in goods and services fell to $43.1 billion U.S. in September, from a revised $44.9 billion U.S. in August, after exports increased more than imports. The number was less than the $45.9 billion U.S. expected.
The 10-year yield spiked to 2.05% from 1.96% late Wednesday, on substantially lower prices. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery advanced $1.50 to $97.24 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery fell $20.40 to 1,771.20 U.S. an ounce.
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