Canada's main stock index moved forward on Wednesday, led by the materials sector and higher resource prices, and supported by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce to a fresh round of Treasuries buying.
The S&P/TSX composite index took on 26.91 points to open Wednesday at 12,309.27
The Canadian dollar poked ahead 0.03 cents to 101.43 cents U.S.
In company news this morning, Athabasca Oil Corp. said on Tuesday it is still looking to complete a joint venture deal on some of its northern Alberta oil sands properties despite new Canadian rules, as its as-yet-unnamed partner is seeking its own approvals for the transaction. Athabasca shares crept higher by three cents to $9.93
Hourly workers represented by the United Steelworkers union at Husky Energy's 155,000 barrel per day Lima, Ohio, refinery approved a new three-year contract with the company in a Monday night vote. As a result, Husky shares acquired 11 cents to $29.11
Alberta is in the process of choosing a marketer for the crude oil it collects in lieu of cash royalties, a role now mostly filled by Nexen Inc., whose takeover by China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd was approved by Ottawa last week. Nexen shares grabbed a penny to $26.56
Spartan Oil Corp. said it has agreed to be acquired by Bonterra Energy Corp and terminated its earlier agreement with Pinecrest Energy Inc. The news sent Spartan shares lower 2.5 cents to $4.86
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 1.09 points to 1,185.02
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups started the day higher. Gold soared 1.2%, while materials advanced 0.7% and utilities gained 0.5%.
The three laggards were telecoms, down 0.6%, health-care, off 0.05%, and energy, slipping 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday, as investors await news from the Federal Reserve on further stimulus for the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved up 27.96 points to start Wednesday at 13,276.40
The S&P 500 grew 2.52 points to 1,430.36, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 4.41 points to 3,026.71.
On the corporate front, Costco posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal first quarter, yet shares barely moved.
DuPont shares gained ground after the chemical company announced a $1-billion U.S. share buyback program and updated its 2012 earnings guidance to the high end of its previous range.
Nasdaq announced plans to acquire three investing communications divisions from Thomson Reuters for $390 million U.S.
Shares of Berkshire Hathaway were briefly halted ahead of an announcement that Warren Buffett's firm bought 9,200 of its Class A shares for $131,000 U.S. apiece from the estate of a long-time shareholder.
Meanwhile, the central bank will decide the fate of Operation Twist, a program that is set to end this month.
Experts say Fed officials are "universally expected" to expand the third round of its bond-buying program by adding Treasuries to its current monthly purchase of $40 billion U.S. in mortgage-backed securities when Operation Twist concludes Dec. 31
The Fed's policy announcement is due at 12:30 pm ET. The central bank's new economic forecasts are due later in the afternoon, while Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will take questions at a news conference at 2:15 pm ET.
Meanwhile, investors will be carefully listening to remarks by House Speaker John Boehner at a 10 a.m. ET press conference with other Republican members of Congress to see if leaders in Washington are making progress in fiscal cliff negotiations.
Lawmakers must reach a compromise to avoid the tax increases and spending cuts that are set to kick in automatically on Jan. 1.
Without a deal, many economists worry that the U.S. economy could fall back into a recession.
Treasury prices on the 10-year note fell, raising the yields to 1.66% from Tuesday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved $1.20 a barrel to $86.99 U.S.
Gold prices hiked $10 an ounce to $1,719.60 U.S.
