Canadian stocks rose Friday, getting a lift from upbeat U.S. corporate earnings, but the benchmark was weighed by a weak performance among mining producers.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed the day off 6.41 points to end the week at 12,147.28
The Canadian dollar gained 0.31 cents, to 100.76 cents U.S.
Canadian Pacific Railway reported its first-quarter net profit of $142 million, or 82 Canadian cents a share, up from $34 million, or 20 Canadian cents a share, it earned a year earlier.
But the strong earnings were muted by the company’s proxy war as its largest shareholder, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, is pushing to replace the company’s chief executive and half of its board members at its annual meeting next month. As a result, the share price climbed only 0.6% to $76.49.
In the consumer discretionary section, shares of Thomson Reuters Corp added 1.4% to $28.67, after the company launched its Direct Intelligence Service for Insurance, a direct data feed of live regulatory information that insurance compliance managers can use to manage risk.
The energy sector rose on higher oil prices. Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. shares gained 1.8% to $7.98, but Suncor Energy Inc faded 1.5% to $30.96.
Shares of gold producers edged lower, with Barrick Gold Corp. shares sliding 1.9% to $39.96. Shares of Kinross Gold Corp fell 1.4% to $8.99.
Among the top performers, Cameco Corp. shares rose 4.4% to $22.00 after TD upgraded the uranium producer’s rating to buy from hold, saying an "improved tone" in the uranium market should translate into higher prices for the commodity later this year, Dow Jones reported.
Air Canada rose 1.2% to 85 cents, after the airline and its union said they would return to negotiate a new labour deal for 10 days to avoid a government-imposed settlement.
Shares of SNC-Lavalin Group rose 1.8% to $39.25 after Reuters reported that CANDU Energy, a unit of the engineering giant, is in talks with the Turkish government to build a nuclear power plant on the Black Sea coast.
In other news, Encana Corp. shares were down 0.6% to $17.89, after the gas producer said Japanese trading company Toyota Tsusho Corp. has agreed to buy 32.5% of the company’s coal-bed methane block in Alberta. The investment value will total around $600 million over the next seven years, Encana said.
Thompson Creek Metals Co. shares fell 4.1% to $6.13 after the company said it expects a first-quarter operating loss due to the start-up and commissioning of a new mill at its British Columbia’s mine.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said the annual inflation rate fell to 1.9% in March from 2.6% in February, marking the lowest level since September 2010. This would appear to be close to ideal for the Bank of Canada, which aims for overall inflation of 2%.
The nation’s number-crunchers also sounded a cheery note, saying its composite leading index rose 0.4% in March, slightly less than the 0.7% rise in February, extending the index’s roll to nine straight months. Of the 10 components measured by the index, eight were stronger.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nipped up 1.32 points to 1,398.09, while the Nasdaq Canada index dropped 3.89 points to 411.55
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups closed the day in negative territory. Information technology sagged 1.5%, metals and mining issues were off 1.2%, and health-care issues stumbled 0.9%.
The five gainers were led by consumer staples, up 1%, consumer discretionary stocks, ahead 0.8%, and utilities, gaining 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose solidly Friday, as investors welcomed another round of strong earnings from corporate America and positive news out of Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed Friday up 65.16 points to end the week at 13,029.30
The S&P 500 edged up 1.85 points to 1,378.77, however, the Nasdaq slid 7.11 points to 3,000.45
It's been a choppy week on Wall Street, but all three major indexes are on track to finish higher, breaking a two-week losing streak. The Dow and S&P 500 on both on track to book gains around 1%, while the Nasdaq is going for a 0.2% rise.
Friday was a light day on the economic calendar, with no major U.S. reports due, but investors will continue to wade through first-quarter results from several large firms.
Microsoft shares surged more than 5%, leading the gains on the Dow and the Nasdaq. The company beat earnings expectations late Thursday, with sales growth of 6% thanks to its Windows and Office products.
McDonalds and General Electric were also big gainers, with both companies reporting earnings that topped analyst estimates.
E*Trade shares soared almost 7%, leading the S&P 500, on better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
Quarterly earnings this round have been surprisingly strong. Of the 121 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported, more than 80% have beaten expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. During a typical quarter, only about 60% of companies beat estimates.
Technology manufacturer Honeywell beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, and shares climbed.
Shares of processor developer AMD rose, after the company beat expectations Thursday.
Flash memory producer SanDisk's stock fell sharply after the company missed earnings expectations in reporting its quarterly results Thursday and said it expected a similarly weak performance in the current quarter.
US Airways shares dipped after the airline said it reached an agreement with three American Airlines unions for support of a possible merger.
Shares of technology firm Infoblox soared in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange, rising more than 35% versus their offering price.
Proofpoint shares, which also made their stock market debut Friday, climbed about 10%.
Over the past few months, the European Central Bank has pulled out all the stops to prevent a credit crunch by providing banks with €1 trillion in ultra-low cost financing. But the potency of the ECB's two long-term refinancing operations, or LTROs, appears to be fading, as yields on Spanish and Italian bonds have shot higher in recent weeks.
Investors are hopeful that global finance officials will announce new resources for the International Monetary Fund during the IMF and World Bank's spring meeting in Washington.
Analysts with the Eurasia Group expect the IMF to announce $400 billion U.S. in additional funding at the conclusion of the meeting this weekend.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped a mite, lifting the yield to 1.97% from Thursday’s 1.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for May delivery boosted $1.34 to $103.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery gained $1.60 to $1,642.20 U.S. an ounce.
