Toronto's main stock index opened lower on Thursday after data showed manufacturing activity in Europe and most of Asia contracted and the European Central Bank gave a downbeat view of the economy.
The S&P TSX Composite let go of 10.84 points to 12,193.27
The Canadian dollar edged up 0.14 cents to 98.45 U.S. cents
Among Canadian stocks to watch this morning are three of the big banks.
Toronto-Dominion Bank said its fourth-quarter profit rose a stronger-than-expected 58% due to a rise in mortgage lending and trading fees.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported higher fourth-quarter profit of 59%, due mainly to higher wholesale banking income.
Japan's Daiwa Securities Group said it would sell a prime brokerage business serving hedge funds to the Bank of Nova Scotia as part of a restructuring of its ailing overseas operations. Scotiabank is due out with earnings Friday.
Bombardier Inc. hailed a 31% rise in third-quarter profit, helped by strength at both its plane- and train-making divisions.
Lululemon Athletica Inc., the yogawear retailer, said its third-quarter profit rose about 51% and forecast a stronger fourth quarter.
Ivanhoe Mines said there was only a small chance of a delay to a power contract with China, crucial to running the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper project in neighboring Mongolia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added another point to 1,549.45, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 6.75 points to 411.71
Of the 14 Toronto subgroups, nine were positive Thursday morning, with consumer staples leading the charge, up 1.8%, information technology gained 1%, and energy stocks were 0.4% stronger.
The five laggards were weighed by consumer discretionaries, off 1.5%, financials, down 0.5% and utilities, declining 0.2%>
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were mixed Thursday as investors welcomed upbeat reports on the U.S. economy one day after a major rally.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 20.73 points soon after the opening bell to 12,025.
The S&P 500 erased 0.82 points, to 1,246.14, while the Nasdaq Composite also doffed 0.82 points to 2,619.52
Stocks opened lower but regained some ground after an industry group said manufacturing activity rose more than expected in November.
On Wednesday, all three major stock indexes closed the session more than 4% higher. The Dow's 490-point gain is the largest of 2011, and the best percentage gain since March, 2009.
Shares of Yahoo jumped more than 4% amid speculation that Chinese Internet giant Alibaba and several private equity firms are planning to bid for all of Yahoo, according to news reports citing people familiar with the situation.
That news followed reports Wednesday that Microsoft and private equity firm Silver Lake were considering making an offer for a minority stake in Yahoo.
Shares of Lululemon sank 14% after the athletic appeal maker reported quarterly profits and sales figures that rose from last year, but missed analysts' expectations.
Barnes and Nobel shares fell 11% after the bookseller reported a $6.6-million U.S. net loss for the second quarter as total sales declined.
Investors around the world raced to scoop up stocks, after the Federal Reserve said it will work with other central banks to support the global economy. The central banks' coordinated move gave investors hope that world leaders are taking the necessary steps, to avoid a credit crunch stemming from Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
Economically speaking, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing Index, a survey of purchasing managers, rose 1.9 to 52.7 in November. Analysts were expecting the index to hit 51.0 for November, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com.
Construction spending in October rose 0.8% to $798.5 billion U.S., compared with a forecasted 0.3% increase.
Same store sales for several major retailers rose in November, according to preliminary figures from Thomson Reuters.
The number of people filing for initial unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 to 402,000 in the latest week, the government said. That was higher than expected, with economists forecasting jobless claims to have totaled 390,000 for the week ending Nov. 26.
Setting the stage for Friday's closely-watched government jobs data, a report from Automatic Data Processing showed Wednesday that private-sector employment grew by 206,000 jobs in November.
A survey of economists predicts that the monthly jobs report due Friday will show that the economy added 110,000 jobs in November. In October, 80,000 jobs were added to payrolls. Most of the gain will likely come from the private sector, where it's estimated another 135,000 jobs were added.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury plummeted, pushing the yield up to 2.13% from 2.07% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil for January delivery added 68 cents to $101.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery gained 90 cents to $1,749.40 U.S. an ounce.
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