Canada's resource-heavy stock market opened higher on Wednesday as encouraging manufacturing data from China and Germany boosted commodity prices.
The S&P TSX Composite Index began Wednesday ahead 70.06 points, to 12,522.21
The Canadian dollar zoomed up 0.46 cents to 100.21 cents U.S., above parity with its American counterpart.
Among Canadian stocks to watch this morning, Teck Resources Ltd., where workers of one union at the company's Chilean Quebrada Blanca mine, which produced 86,200 tonnes of copper in 2010, ratified strike action after contract negotiations with the firm broke down
Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd is selling a northern Alberta oil sands project to privately held Grizzly Oil Sands for $225 million so it can pay down debt and boost its cash position.
Suncor Energy Inc. said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 10%, helped by higher oil prices.
Toronto-Dominion Bank said on Tuesday it is not looking to expand its wealth management arm through acquisitions in Canada or the United States, preferring to grow by offering clients a broad array of investment services.
China-focused plantation operator Sino-Forest Corp. said an independent committee had wound up its investigation into allegations the firm had exaggerated its assets, but had not been able to get to the bottom of all the issues raised.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.19 points to 1,640.94, while the Nasdaq Canada index grew 3.54 points to 415.42.
All but two of 14 Toronto subgroups began the day positive. Health-care stocks were 1.9% healthier, while industrials and the metals and mining group were each 0.9% to the good.
The two laggards were consumer staples, down 0.4%, and gold, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks opened higher Wednesday, as investors welcomed stronger manufacturing data around the world.
The Dow Jones Industrials ballooned 133.43 points, or 1.1%, to begin the session and the month at 12,766.30
The S&P 500 regained 8.96 points to 1,321.37, while the tech-rich Nasdaq galloped 20.77 points to 2,834.61
NYSE Euronext announced early Wednesday that it will terminate its merger agreement with Deutsche Boerse. The proposed $10-billion U.S. takeover of the operator of the New York Stock Exchange would have created the world's largest exchange, but was quashed by European officials.
Pfizer is recalling one million packs of birth control pills, after the pharmaceutical giant discovered that some blister packs may contain an inexact count of inert or active ingredient tablets, and that the tablets may be out of sequence. Birth control pills typically have to be taken in sequence to be effective.
Shares of Tupperware fell after the company reported earnings per share that fell three cents U.S. short of forecasts. Hershey's shares edged lower after the chocolate maker reported earnings and sales in line with estimates.
Whirlpool shares rose after the company beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue.
Broadcom's stock also got a boost after the semi-conductor firm reported slightly better results and issued a brighter outlook.
Two years after its bankruptcy and U.S. bailout, Chrysler Group posted 2011 net income of $183 million U.S., its first annual profit since 2005. Although the company is no longer publicly traded, its results boosted shares of its competitors, General Motors and Ford
Shares of online retailer Amazon plunged after the company reported quarterly revenue late Tuesday that missed analysts' estimates. But the company beat profit expectations.
Manufacturing activity picked up in China, Germany, France and the United Kingdom in January, according to separate reports. Investors will also closely watch a reading on U.S. manufacturing, the ISM Manufacturing Index, due later in the morning.
Meanwhile, the other big news Wednesday looks likely to be Facebook's long-awaited IPO filing.
According to reports from outlets including the New York Times and CNBC, Facebook is seeking to raise up to $5 billion U.S. in its offering.
If that number is correct, Facebook would by far be the largest global IPO by an Internet-focused company, according to data from Dealogic. Some experts have suggested that the social network could be valued between $75 billion and $100 billion U.S. once it starts trading, which will likely happen a few months after its initial filing.
Speaking of things economic, a report from payroll processor ADP showed that the private sector added 170,000 jobs in January. The report was expected to show that 200,000 jobs were added last month, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com, down from the revised gains of 292,000 the month prior.
The ISM Manufacturing Index for January is expected to stand at 54.5, up from 53.9 in December.
Meanwhile, a report on December construction spending is expected to show an increase in 0.4%, versus the month prior.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note lost ground, raising yields to 1.82% from Tuesday’s 1.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery regained 63 cents to $99.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $9.40 to $1,749.80 U.S. an ounce.
