Stock markets closed sharply higher as good news from U.S. banks raised hopes the financial sector is recovering.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index charged ahead by the closing bell, gaining 97.26 points to 9,343.37, to a three-month high The benchmark has climbed 23% after falling to the lowest since October 2003 on March 9.
Economically speaking, Canadian factory shipments rose in February for the first time in seven months as sales of vehicles and parts retraced some of their recent losses.
Factory sales increased 2.2% from the prior month to $42.9 billion, as carmakers reported gains of 35%, Statistics Canada said today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted factory shipments would gain 2%, the median of 18 estimates.
Canadian manufacturers have pared 110,400 workers since December after demand from the U.S. plummeted in the second half of last year.
Motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industries in Ontario were behind most of the gains in February, following widespread slowdowns and shutdowns in January.
In corporate news, debt-strapped newsprint giant AbitibiBowater Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in the United States and said it will seek similar protection in Canada on Friday.
The Canadian dollar inched .03 cents ahead to 82.77 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, all but two were positive, led by information technology, up 2.9%, financials, advancing 2.4% and health-care stocks, up 2.1%.
The two groups losing ground consisted of gold, down 5.3% and materials, off 3.4%
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 5.81 points to 982.13 while the Nasdaq Canada Index jumped 26.11 points to 642.26
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials average roared ahead 95.81 points to close the day at 8,125.43
The S&P 500 index gained 13.24 points to 865.30, while the Nasdaq climbed 43.64 points to 1,670.44
Shares of Google Inc. rose Thursday after the Internet search company said its first-quarter profit climbed 8% and topped Wall Street's forecast, amid a tough advertising environment.
Net income for the three months ended March 31 totaled $1.42 billion U.S., or $4.49 U.S. per share, compared with $1.31 billion U.S., or $4.12 U.S. per share, a year ago.
JPMorgan Chase says its first-quarter profit fell to $2.1 billion from $2.4 billion U.S. a year ago, but the results topped expectations. And Regions Financial's chief executive says the company will report a profit for the quarter ended March 31.
The positive showing came days after Wells Fargo and Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also reported profit above analysts' forecasts.
And late Wednesday, American Express Co. released data that suggested credit card defaults may be stabilizing.
Nokia Corp. says its profits plummeted 90% in the first quarter to $193 million U.S. compared to $1.9 billion U.S. in the same period last year.
Sales at the world's top mobile phone maker dropped 27% to $14.7 billion U.S. However, results were expected to be worse and shares rallied 10%.
Tempering enthusiasm Thursday morning was a report that General Growth, the second-largest mall operator in the U.S., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it was unable to persuade debtholders to give it more time to refinance its debt.
There was economic data showing further indications that the worst U.S. housing slump in decades has yet to hit bottom.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by a worse-than-expected 10.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units. That was the second lowest construction pace in records going back 50 years.
The report also showed that applications for building permits, considered a good barometer of future activity, also fell in March, dropping 9% to an annual rate of 513,000 units, lower than the 550,000 rate that economists had been expecting.
New home construction slumped almost 11% last month, falling to the second lowest level on record, indicating that the housing market has not yet bottomed.
Meanwhile, the number of newly laid-off Americans requesting unemployment insurance benefits fell last week, a sign that job cuts could be easing.
The Labor Department says its tally of initial jobless claims dropped to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 from a revised figure of 663,000 the previous week, significantly below analysts' expectations of 655,000.
Other data showed that regional manufacturing shrank again in April.
The Philadelphia Fed's reading on manufacturing came in at a negative 24.4 for April compared with a negative 35.0 in March.
Treasury prices slumped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.83% from 2.76% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rose 73 cents to settle at $49.98 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for June delivery fell $13.70 to settle at $879.80 U.S. an ounce.
