Toronto's main stock index looked set to open higher on Thursday, helped by stronger-than-forecast results from Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
The S&P/TSX composite index rallied 71.95 points to end Wednesday at 12,732.39, and futures were up 0.2% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar gave up a quarter of a cent to 97.48 cents U.S. Thursday
Royal Bank of Canada reported a stronger-than-expected 12% rise in quarterly profit on the back of stronger loan growth and capital markets income, prompting the bank to raise its dividend by 5%.
Toronto-Dominion Bank reported a 21% rise in quarterly profit, driven by loan growth at its Canadian and U.S. retail banks and allowing it to raise its dividend by 5%.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported a 4% drop in quarterly profit due largely to a $148-million charge for a legal settlement with bankrupt U.S. bank Lehman Brothers.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, the largest publicly traded drug maker in Canada, reported a fourth-quarter loss, largely due to costs related to its $2.6 billion acquisition of Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Elsewhere, pharmacy benefit manager Catamaran Corp. reported a 59% jump in fourth-quarter profit, helped by the acquisition of HealthTran.
Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd is giving the leader of Nexen Inc. freedom to get operations running smoothly after an exhaustive seven-month acquisition process.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its raw materials price index gained 3.8%, mostly because of higher prices for crude oil. The industrial products price index remained static in January from December, as lower prices for chemical products largely offset gains elsewhere, including an advance in petroleum and coal products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 0.79 points Wednesday to 1,131.12
ON WALLSTREET
Things are looking up for investors as they head into the last trading day of the month Thursday.
Futures for the Dow Industrials ditched four points to 14,056. Futures for the S&P 500 nipped up 0.4 points to 1,516.60, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 2.5 points to 2,743.
Stocks have rallied for the previous two sessions after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled to lawmakers that the central bank's easy money policies would remain in place for the foreseeable future.
Most of February has been a dud for stocks. After a massive rally in January, it wasn't a surprise for stocks to pull back.
Even with the sluggish trading this month, all three indexes are still up roughly 6% to 7% for the year.
The Dow is within 90 points, or 0.6%, of its all-time high, set in October 2007. The S&P 500 is just 3% away from its record high, also set in October 2007.
A string of positive economic reports, coupled with Bernanke's comments, have given investors enough reason to jump back on the bull. U.S. stock futures were modestly higher.
Coming up Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department will release its weekly report on initial jobless claims this morning while the Commerce Department will publish its second estimate of fourth-quarter GDP.
In its initial estimate last month, the Commerce Department said the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1% in the fourth quarter, the first contraction since the second quarter of 2009.
U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday, with the Dow gaining 1.2% to finish at its highest level since October 2007.
On the corporate front, department store chain Sears Holdings Corp reported sales at stores open a year or more notched up 0.8% in the fourth quarter but fell 1.4% for the year. The company said that it has closed 300 Sears and K-Mart stores, or 13% of its total, since 2006.
Barnes & Noble is also set to report quarterly results in the morning, while Gap is up after the bell.
European markets rose in midday trading, drawing support from comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that suggested the bank had room to relax policy further.
Meanwhile, the European Union is planning to cap bankers' bonuses to rein in reckless risk taking.
Asian markets had a banner day. After the nomination of Haruhiko Kuroda to be Japan's next central banker, the Nikkei posted a 2.7% increase to its highest point since 2008. The Shanghai Composite rose 2.3% and the Hang Seng added 2%.
Oil prices picked up 25 cents to $93.01 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded $1.80 an ounce to $1,593.90 U.S.
