The Toronto Stock Exchange appeared headed for a slight rebound Tuesday as traders took in rising commodity prices and mixed North American corporate earnings.
In Canadian corporate earnings news, mining giant Teck Resources Ltd. said it earned $218 million, or 37 cents per share, in the first quarter. After excluding the impact of debt refinancing and other items, adjusted profit was $504 million or 86 cents per share -- a penny short of analyst estimates.
Teck's revenue for the quarter was $2.5 million, also short of the consensus estimate of $2.6 billion but above the 2011 first quarter revenue of $2.4 billion.
The company's coal operations provided most of the increased revenue, with some help from zinc. That was partially offset by reduced copper revenue as lower prices offset higher output.
Teck's profit attributable to shareholders in the first three months of this year was down from $461 million or 78 cents per share in the first quarter of 2011 before adjustments and $450 million or 76 cents per share after adjustments.
High-tech manufacturer Celestica Inc. says its first-quarter revenue was nearly US$1.7 billion. Celestica's net income was $43.2 million or 20 cents per share under International Financial Reporting Standards, up from $30 million or 14 cents per share.
Canfor Pulp Products Inc. reports first-quarter net income of $10.3 million or 13 cents per diluted share, down from $50.7 million or 71 cents per share in the same 2011 period. Revenue was $220 million, compared with 252.3 million in the prior-year period.
ON BAYSTREET
The S&P/TSX Composite Index jettisoned 158.18 points, or 1.3%, to end Monday’s trading day at 11,989.10
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 26.92 points to 1,371.03, while the Nasdaq Canada index dropped 8.26 points to 403.29
The Canadian dollar was flat this morning at 100.93 cents U.S.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. index futures were higher with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 29 points or 0.2%, after falling more than 100 points on Monday. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were up 0.9 points or 0.1%, to 1,363.60.
Futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq eased back two points, or 0.1%, to 2,648.25.
The gains follow modest bounces in Europe, where Monday's losses were particularly steep with political uncertainty in the Netherlands and France raising questions about Europe's determination to deal with the sovereign-debt crisis by slashing government spending.
Successful Spanish and Italian government bond auctions on Tuesday helped ease some concerns.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% and Germany's DAX index rose 0.7% in afternoon trading.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% in overnight trading.
Oil prices advanced 0.4% to $103.48 U.S. a barrel, while gold prices nipped 0.6% to $1,643.20 U.S. an ounce.
