Major acquisition activity in the Canadian oilpatch helped push the Toronto stock market modestly higher Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 53.54 points to close Wednesday at 12,461.24
The Canadian dollar regained 0.91 cents to 102.27 cents U.S.
The energy sector was among the biggest dvancers after Celtic Exploration Ltd. received a friendly takeover offer valued at $3.1 billion from Canadian affiliates of U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. The Calgary-based company is mainly focused on natural gas areas in British Columbia and Alberta.
Celtic’s shareholders are being offered $24.50 per share and a half-share of a new company, code-named Spinco. Celtic shares surged $8.17, or 45.1%, to $26.29.
And Penn West Petroleum Ltd. has agreed in principle to sell $1.3-billion worth of its non-core properties, representing the equivalent of 12,000 barrels per day of production. Details weren’t disclosed and its shares gained 18 cents to $13.84.
In Canada, PotashCorp shares dipped four cents to $41.06 as it warned that its profit this year will fall short of expectations following delays in reaching contracts with fertilizer buyers in China and India. It says that earnings for the full 2012 financial year will fall below even the lowest previous estimate of $2.80 to $3.20 per share.
Other energy sector gainers included Birchcliff Energy, up 61 cents, or 7.5%, to $8.70 while Paramount Resources improved by $2.10, or 6.7%, to $33.69.
The base metals sector rose while December copper was up five cents at $3.75 U.S. a pound. Major Drilling Group International advanced 46 cents, or 4.3%, to $11.28 while Capstone Mining edged up three cents to $2.43.
Industrials declined with Canadian National Railways down $1.10 to $87.59.
The gold sector was also weak as Barrick Gold Corp. faded eight cents to $39.13.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.22 points to 1,304.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day, led by global base metals, up 1.9%, energy, ahead 1.3%, and the metals and mining group, better by 1.2%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by health-care and real-estate, each down 0.6%, and industrials, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities were little changed Wednesday, as investors took in new housing data and another batch of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial average eked up 5.22 points to close the day at 13,557.
In all, 21 of the 30 component stocks listed on the Dow were trading higher, but IBM dragged the index down, since it's price-weighted so heavily. The stock known as "Big Blue" reported a dip in sales after the close Tuesday, sending shares of the company down nearly 6%.
The S&P 500 gathered 5.20 points to 1,460.12, while the tech-rich Nasdaq stayed positive 2.95 points to 3,104.12
Wednesday marked the 25th anniversary of the "Black Monday" crash of 1987, when the Dow fell 22.6% of its value in just one day.
Early Wednesday, Bank of America reported third-quarter earnings that beat forecasts, citing improved lending and deposits.
JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have also all topped expectations.
But not all corporate news was good news. Intel reported lower profits and sales after the close Tuesday, weighed down by lethargic PC sales. Shares were down 3% in afternoon trading.
Results from American Express are due after the close.
Economically speaking, U.S. housing starts, which tally the number of new homes under construction, climbed 15% to an annual rate of 872,000 in September, according to the Census Bureau.
That’s a four-year high, surpassing what economists had expected. Building permits for future construction also rose to the highest level in more than four years.
The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury plummeted, hiking the yield to 1.81% from Tuesday’s 1.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sifted off 11 cents to $91.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were up $4.20 to $1,750.50 U.S. an ounce.
