Canada's main stock index opened a mite higher on Wednesday, as signs of progress in resolving the U.S. "fiscal cliff" budget crisis boosted investor sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index was 45.10 points higher to begin Wednesday at 12,379.44
The Canadian dollar fell 0.23 cents to 101.23 cents U.S.
Units of oil company Hess Corp and private equity firm Energy Investors Funds picked construction companies SNC-Lavalin Group Inc of Canada and Skanska AB of Sweden to build a power plant in New Jersey. SNC Lavalin shares dipped 79 cents to $40.27
China National Gold Corp is set to make an announcement soon on its talks over buying a stake in African Barrick Gold, an executive at the state-owned Chinese company said on Wednesday. African Barrick is a subsidiary of Canadian-owned Barrick Gold. Barrick stock inched back 16 cents to $33.24
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada told us this morning that wholesale sales moved higher 0.9% to $49.2 billion in October, following a decline of 1.5% the previous month.
Moreover, the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in October edged up 4,600, or 0.9%, to 535,000, after a slight drop in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.12 points to 1,179.12
In all, nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, led by metals and mining, up 1.3%, information technology, ahead 1.2%, and financials, gaining 0.7%.
Health-care weighed most heavily on the five losing groups, off 0.5%, while gold trailed Tuesday’s close by 0.4%, and consumer staples fell 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened flat Wednesday as investors cling to the belief that politicians in Washington can resolve the fiscal cliff stand-off after weeks of gridlock.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 21.34 points to 13,329.60
The S&P 500 dipped 3.30 points to 1,443.49. The Nasdaq Composite forfeited 5.87 points to 3,048.66
Investors apparently were willing to dismiss the latest warning from ratings agency Fitch Wednesday. Fitch reiterated it may strip the U.S. of its AAA credit rating if Washington is unable to strike a deal soon to avert the fiscal cliff and allow borrowing to rise.
Early Wednesday, UBS said it will pay $1.5 billion U.S. to settle claims in the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland related to rigging Libor benchmark interest rates. The settlement was widely expected and shares of UBS rose on the news.
Also, the Treasury Department announced it will exit all of its investment in General Motors within the next 12-15 months as part of its efforts to wind down its investments in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Shares of GM were up more than 7% early Wednesday.
Trading firm Knight Capital said it will merge with rival and partial owner Getco, just three weeks after Getco made its offer. Knight Capital stock gained 6.6% in early trading.
In other corporate news, FedEx reported that earnings fell due to a weakened global outlook and the impact of Superstorm Sandy. FedEx is often viewed as a bellwether for the broader economy due to the nature and global scope of its business. But even though profits were down, they still topped forecasts. Shares of the shipping giant gained more than 2%.
Cereal maker General Mills posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings Wednesday morning as well.
After the closing bell Tuesday, tech giant Oracle reported quarterly results that beat analysts' forecasts for profits and revenues. The stock was up 3%.
Economically speaking, the Census Bureau said housing starts fell 3% in November to an annual rate of 861,000.
Treasury prices regained some ground, lowering yields on the 10-year note to 1.79% from Tuesday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil was up 33 cents to $88.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $1.30 at $1,669.40 U.S. an ounce.
