Canada’s main stock market charged out of the gate, on good vibes that Greece will soon find a solution to its debt problems.
The S&P TSX Composite Index started Wednesday’s session up 52.22 points to 12,564.64
The Canadian dollar nipped up 0.09 cents to 100.63 cents U.S.
Among Canadian stocks to watch this morning, Agrium Inc. reported a 43% rise in fourth-quarter net profit, as higher crop prices led to stronger pricing and demand for agricultural inputs from both its retail and wholesale businesses.
TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, reported a 21% fall in quarterly profit on lower revenue from issuer services and cash markets trading.
WestJet Airlines Ltd reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and said its employees had endorsed its plan to start a regional carrier using turboprop aircraft to serve smaller markets.
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. said its quarterly profit rose more than six fold helped by a strong growth in its transportation business.
Bombardier Inc. flatly denied a media report that it could sell a stake in its commercial aviation unit to the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. said it will shut its further-processed poultry plant in Ayr, Ontario and merge the operations into its Brantford and Mississauga facilities there, resulting in a loss of 100 jobs.
Next-generation software for BlackBerry's smartphones is "ready to compete", RIM's new CEO, Thorsten Heins, told more than 2,000 technical developers on Tuesday, expressing confidence in RIM's long-term future.
Canadian securities regulators on Tuesday implicated mining executive Ian Telfer, who currently serves as chairman of Goldcorp, in an alleged insider trading scheme, saying he helped the main defendant in the case disguise her illegal trading activities.
On matters economic, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation told us this morning that housing starts decreased by 1.0% in January to an annualized pace of 197,900 versus expectation of a larger drop to 194,000.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rebounded 6.63 points to 1,669.06, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 2.88 points to 427.76
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive to begin the day. Global base metals vied with metals and mining for the top spot, each gaining 1%, while materials improved 0.6%.
Only health-care stocks lagged behind, and only 0.2% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks drifted higher early Wednesday as investors remain focused on Greece, where political leaders continue to debate austerity measures needed to secure bailout funds.
The Dow Jones Industrials were positive by only 2.50 points to begin the session at 12,880.70.
The S&P 500 picked up 3.029 points to 1,350.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq was better by 12.26 points to 2,916.34
Bank of America and JPMorgan led gainers on the Dow. But the index was weighed down by shares of Merck and Cisco.
Investors will continue to look for news out of Greece, where leaders are hammering out the details of an austerity package. The package is necessary for the country to receive a €130-billion bailout from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
Without these funds, Greece could miss a €14.5-billion bond redemption in March.
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has distributed a final draft of the austerity program to members of his governing coalition. The party leaders are set to meet Wednesday to finalize the measures.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is reportedly willing to participate in a restructuring of Greek debt, although the bank will not suffer a loss on its holdings. Greece is also expected to announce an agreement with private sector investors on a writedown and debt swap.
Investors continued to tune in to quarterly corporate results on Wednesday.
Sprint Nextel reported a steep loss for the fourth quarter, shedding $1.3 billion U.S., or 43 cents U.S. per share, which was even worse than its year-earlier loss of $929 million U.S., or 31 cents U.S. per share. The company blamed the sales expense from its launch of the iPhone.
Time Warner beat expectations on earnings and revenue. The media company reported fourth-quarter adjusted net income of $946 million U.S., or 94 cents U.S. per share, an increase from the prior-year figure of $754 million U.S., of 65 cents U.S. per share.
Time Warner also raised its dividend by 11% and announced a four-billion-share buyback.
CVS Caremark said that its revenue jumped 11% to a record $107 billion U.S. and its adjusted earnings rose 6% to $2.80 U.S. per share.
Buffalo Wild Wings said its same-store sales jumped 9% in the fourth quarter, contributing to a 35% revenue boost, to $220 million U.S., and a 34% surge in net earnings, to $13.6 million U.S.
Western Union reported an increase in fourth-quarter revenue of 5% to $1.4 billion U.S. The 160-year-old money-sending company said that earnings rose 40 cents excluding a tax benefit, compared to 37 cents U.S. in the year-earlier quarter.
On the economic front, the Energy Information Administration released this week's data on crude oil inventories after 10:30 a.m. ET. U.S. gas prices were at a record high in January, which analysts attribute in part to the improving economy.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note fell, boosting yields to 1.99% from Tuesday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery grew $1.35 to $99.76 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery fell $2 to $1,746.40 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
