The Toronto stock market was higher Wednesday amid rising commodity prices and positive earnings reports from resource giant Barrick Gold and Canadian Pacific Railway
The S&P/TSX index moved higher by 74.37points to begin Wednesday at 12,165.31
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.11 cents at 97.37 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold Corp reported an 18% drop in first-quarter profit on lower metal prices and volumes, and cut its capital spending for this year. But Barrick shares rose in pre-market trading. Barrick shares hiked 71 cents to $18.72.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd reported a 53% rise in first-quarter profit as freight revenue rose and it improved its efficiency. CP shares acquired 93 cents to $127.16.
Cenovus Energy Inc reported a higher first-quarter operating profit as margins at its U.S. refineries improved. Cenovus shares gained nine cents to $28.84
Metro Inc more than tripled its second-quarter earnings, helped by an after-tax one-time gain of $266.4 million related to the sale of 10 million shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Metro shares leaped 97 cents to $67.06
BlackBerry said its new smartphone BlackBerry Q10 will be available in Canada starting May 1 through Rogers Wireless Inc, Telus Corp and Bell Mobility. Shares in the company once known as Research In Motion gained 12 cents to $14.86
Colombian financial group Sura and Bank of Nova Scotia said on Tuesday they bought the Peruvian pension fund BBVA Horizonte for a total of $516 million. Scotiabank shares were unchanged at $56.61.
No major Canadian economic data was scheduled for release.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.51 points to 943.46
All 14 Toronto subgroups were positive in the session’s first hour, led by a 2.9% spike in gold prices, while global base metals surged 2.7% and the metals and mining group prospered 2.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped slightly Tuesday, a day after an erroneous tweet wreaked havoc on markets.
The Dow Jones Industrials started out downward by 34.16 points to 14,685.30
The S&P 500 index dropped 1.03 points to 1,577.75. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved lower by 9.9 points to 3,259.44
Investors were spooked by a report on durable goods orders that showed orders fell by 5.7% in March -- much worse than analysts had predicted.
Another batch of earnings also gave investors pause.
Boeing was the biggest gainer on the Dow, after it reported an increase in profits, even as revenue was dinged by its grounded Dreamliners.
But AT&T and Procter & Gamble offset those gains. AT&T's sales came up short, while Procter & Gamble cut its guidance.
Apple beat expectations and announced it would raise its quarterly dividend and boost its stock buyback program. But the company still struggled with lower profits on the iPhone and iMac.
Ford also reported a jump in earnings, helped by sales in North America.
Shares of Juniper Networks' fell more than 7% after the company projected "continued weakness" in its earnings outlook late Tuesday.
Shares of Yum Brands jumped more than 6% after the fast-good restaurant operator reported earnings that topped Wall Street's low expectations.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Tuesday’s 1.70%.
Oil prices surged 63 cents to $89.81 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $20.20 to $1,429 U.S. an ounce
