The Toronto stock market inched higher from Tuesday’s sharp, triple-digit slide, with investors responding Wednesday to a wave of Canadian earnings reports and signs China's manufacturing slump may have bottomed out.
The S&P/TSX composite began Wednesday up 6.20 points to 12,232.04
The Canadian dollar gained 0.13 cents to 100.90 cents U.S.
Among stocks to watch this morning, Rogers Communications Inc. posted net income of $495 million or 96 cents per share, seven cents better than estimates and up from $489 million or 90 cents per share a year ago.
Its revenue increased to $3.17 billion, up about 1% from the same time last year and largely in line with analyst estimates. Rogers shares gathered $2.33, or 5.7%, to $43.41 soon after the opening bell
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. says its third-quarter net income was $224 million, an increase of $37 million, or 20 per cent and diluted earnings per share of $1.30, up 18% compared with a year earlier.
The profit beat analyst estimates by a penny a share and revenue was slightly above the consensus estimate. CP shares jumped $5.66, or 6.4%, to $93.55.
Encana Corp. had a $1.24-billion U.S. net loss in the third quarter, primarily due to the impact of lower natural gas prices over the past year, but says it’s still on track to meet its financial guidance for the full year.
Most of the quarterly loss was attributed to a non-cash impairment charge that the Calgary-based company says doesn’t affect its operating earnings or cash flow, although they were down sharply from last year. Encana shares dipped 16 cents to open at $22.40.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.58 points to 1,292.08
Of the 14 Toronto subgroups, eight were higher, led by telecoms, up 1.4%, industrials, gaining 0.9%, and the metals and mining sector, ahead 0.8%.
Energy was the worst off of the five laggards, moving down 0.3%, while real-estate and financials tailed off 0.1% each. Information technology issues were flat in the first hour of trading.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved slightly higher Wednesday morning, as investors were encouraged by better-than-expected reports on China's economy and earnings from Facebook.
The Dow eked higher by 14.01 points to begin midweek Wednesday at 13,116.50
The S&P 500 index gained back 2.73 points to 1,415.84, while the Nasdaq grew 4.32 to 2,994.78
Earnings from Facebook helped reverse some the gloom surrounding third quarter corporate results. While the social network’s earnings simply fell in line with expectations, investors were relieved to see that. The stock is on a tear Wednesday, shooting up more than 20%.
Elsewhere, corporate earnings remained in focus. Before the opening bell, Dow component Boeing reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations and raised its outlook for full-year profits.
AT&T, another blue chip, also reported earnings that topped market expectations and said cash-flow this year will be better than previously expected. Social game makerZynga will report after the bell. The company announced layoffs on Tuesday.
On the economic front, the Census Bureau will release data on new home sales for September this morning New home sales for September are expected to come in at an annual rate of 385,000, up from 373,000 in the month prior, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve will issue a policy statement around 2:15 p.m. ET following the conclusion of its latest two-day meeting, though the central bank is not expected to release much new information.
Across the Pacific, Asian markets ended mixed after a report showed China’s manufacturing sector hit a three-month high in October.
HSBC's initial purchasing manager's index for Chinese manufacturing jumped to 49.1 in October from 47.9 the previous month, the bank said Wednesday. Any reading below 50 indicates that factory growth is shrinking rather than picking up speed.
The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising the yield to 1.78% from Tuesday’s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 37 cents to $86.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices squeezed 40 cents higher to $1,709.80 U.S. an ounce.
