The Toronto stock market enjoyed a positive open Wednesday as much of the uncertainty was removed over a solution to Europe’s debt crisis.
The S&P/TSX Composite index gained 37.76 points to begin Wednesday at 12,258.21
The Canadian dollar sagged 0.16 cents at 102.59 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Telus Corp. will go ahead with a meeting of all shareholders on Oct. 17, now that a B.C. court has ruled against a rival proposal from hedge fund Mason Capital Management LLC, which owns millions of shares of the telecom company.
According to Telus, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled that Mason Capital isn’t entitled to call a rival meeting of only voting shareholders on the same day.
Telus and Mason are fighting over converting the telecom’s dual-class share structure of voting and non-voting stock to just one class of common shares but Mason argues the Telus approach doesn’t properly compensate holders of voting shares. Telus argues that only Mason would benefit if the hedge fund prevails.
Dollarama Inc. had a net profit of $49.8 million in its second quarter, up 32% from the comparable period last year. Dollarama’s revenue was up 13.8%, rising to $441 million from $387.5 million for the corresponding period last year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 6.23 points to 1,280.83
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were in positive territory, led by global base metals surged 1.1%, while metals and mining grew 1% and industrials prospered 0.8%.
The three laggards were consumer staples and telecoms, each sifting off 0.3%, and utilities, dropping 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday after a German court backed Europe's latest rescue fund.
The Dow Jones Industrial average hiked 25.45 points to begin the session at 13,348.80
The S&P 500 index gained 4.03 points, to 1,437.59, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 7.59 points to 3,112.12.
The gains followed a critical decision by Germany's Constitutional Court. The court dismissed complaints on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent bailout fund that's expected to have a maximum lending capacity of €500 billion.
In corporate news, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5 at an event later Wednesday. Shares of the company were higher as investors awaited the announcement.
Facebook shares rose more than 5%, a day after CEO Mark Zuckerberg made his first public interview since the company's IPO.
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Zuckerberg said he was disappointed by the stock's performance and pledged to stick to Facebook's mission.
Chesapeake Energy agreed to sell most of its properties in the Permian Basin in West Texas for roughly $6.9 billion U.S., sending shares up 3% after the bell. The natural gas company will sell the Delaware Basin portion to Royal Dutch Shell in a deal valued just below $2 billion U.S. Chevron and Global Infrastructure Partners will also buy portions of the acreage.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell with a thud, boosting yields to 1.76% from Tuesday’s 1.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices for September delivery inched up two cents to $97.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery gained $6.50 to $1,741.40 U.S. an ounce.
