The Toronto stock market was higher Thursday but well off the highs of the session on another round of doubt about the pace of negotiations aimed at getting a deal on averting a U.S. fiscal crisis by the end of December.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was ahead 57.13 points to break for lunch at 12,197.46
The Canadian dollar sifted off 0.08 cents to 100.71 cents U.S.
Traders also took in an earnings report from Royal Bank that beat expectations. The bank posted quarterly net earnings of $1.9 billion or $1.25 a share. Adjusted net earnings came in at $1.27 a share, beating estimates by a penny.
RBC also handed in a record full-year profit of $7.5 billion, up 17% from 2011. Its shares were 39 cents higher to $58.74.
The tech sector led advances and Research In Motion Ltd. shares ran up 67 cents, or 6%, to $11.67 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the BlackBerry maker to buy from neutral. RIM stock has boosted over the last couple of weeks on upgrades and optimism as it prepares to launch its new BlackBerry 10 lineup at the end of January.
The base metals sector was ahead as March copper on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained six cents to $3.58 U.S. Inmet Mining rose $2.80 or 4.5% to $64.80 a day after it rejected an unsolicited takeover offer worth $4.9 billion by First Quantum Minerals Ltd.
HudBay Minerals gained 11 cents to $9.81.
The energy sector moved ahead as Canadian Natural Resources advanced 46 cents to $28.70 while Cenovus Energy was 40 cents higher to $33.12.
The financials sector was up in the wake of the Royal Bank results. Other advancers included TD Bank, up 70 cents to $82.22 while Manulife Financial advanced 21 cents to $12.83.
The gold sector dipped as Goldcorp Inc. faded 70 cents to $38.61.
In other earnings news, Gildan Activewear Inc. said quarterly net income jumped to $89 million U.S. or 73 cents per share, up from $48.5 million U.S. a year ago. Ex-items, earnings came in at $94.9 million or 78 cents per share, a penny short of estimates. Gildan also said it will increase its quarterly dividend to shareholders by 20%, which will be nine U.S. cents a share and its stock rose $1.04 to $34.13.
On the economic slate, figures released by Statistics Canada told us that the raw materials price index was unchanged in October, while its industrial products price index demurred 0.1% last month over September, largely the result of lower prices for petroleum and coal products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 8.95 points to 1,214.32
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained ground, led by information technology, up 2%, global base metals, prospering 1.3%, and the metals and mining group, up 1.2%
The only naysayer was in gold, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks advanced Thursday, as markets around the world react positively to signs that Washington might be moving toward a deal on the fiscal cliff.
The Dow Jones Industrials approached noon up 25 points to 13,010.10.
The S&P 500 moved 4.84 points higher to 1,414.77 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 16.08 points to 3,007.85
.
Investors also sifted through a batch of quarterly results. Grocery chain Kroger shares rose sharply after the company posted better-than-expected results for the third quarter and also lifted its outlook for the year.
Shares of troubled bookseller Barnes & Noble slipped after the company posted a loss of four cents U.S. per share and a revenue decline of 0.4%.
Shares of Tiffany tumbled after the luxury retailer reported third-quarter earnings and sales that missed estimates. The company cut its forecast for the full-year.
Same-store sales at Gap improved, but the increase was less than expected.
Macy's shares dropped as November same-store sales unexpectedly slipped, and shares of Target were under pressure after the retailer reported a 0.1% decline in sales.
Lawmakers and the White House have been in talks for months to try and avoid the slew of year end tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff .
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will be on Capitol Hill Thursday for meetings with Congressional leaders Thursday, while President Obama is slated to have lunch with defeated Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
On the economic front, the U.S. government said gross domestic product grew at a 2.7% annual rate in the third quarter.
Separately, weekly claims for U.S. unemployment claims fell 23,000 to 393,000.
Moreover, pending home sales jumped 5.2% in October from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. Outside of a few spikes driven by the $8,000 home buyer's tax credit in 2009 and 2010, NAR said pending home sales are at the highest level since March 2007.
Treasury prices nipped upward, lowering yields to Wednesday’s 1.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved $1.35 to $87.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices spiked $9.10 an ounce to $1,725.60 U.S.
