The Toronto stock market was higher Thursday amid a second day of solid gains from copper and gold prices.
The S&P/TSX index advanced 57.55 points to greet noon at 12,327.98
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.56 cents at 98.07 cents U.S.
In Canada, Imperial Oil Ltd. says its first-quarter net income was down 21% from a year ago, mainly because of a wider discount on the price of bitumen produced at its Cold Lake oilsands operation.
The integrated energy company’s profit fell by $217 million to $798 million, or 94 cents per share, down from $1.19 or about $1 billion a year earlier. Its shares were up 69 cents to $40.78.
The gold sector was up while gold futures jumped for a second day, partly because of bargain hunting after bullion plunged last week to $1,361 U.S. an ounce, its lowest level in over two years.
The TSX global gold sector is still down over 30% year to date.
The techs sector also grew by 2.74% as Open Text charged ahead $5.49, or 9.51%, to $62.23 as it announced plans Wednesday to start paying a quarterly dividend of 30 cents a share starting in June.
At the same time, the company reported lower net profit of $25.8 million U.S. in its third quarter compared with $34.7 million U.S. in the same period last year.
BlackBerry also advanced 30 cents to $15.55.
The consumer staples group was also positive. Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. earned $119.5 million or 59 cents per share on sales of $2.49 billion in its latest quarter compared with a profit of $118.8 million or 56 cents per share on sales of $2.39 billion a year ago. Same-store sales were up 2.5% for the quarter. Its shares gained 66 cents to $45.36.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. is reporting an improved first quarter profit, with $556 million or 63 cents per share of net income that beat analyst estimates.
However the company’s guidance for the second quarter is estimated at 70 to 85 cents per share, which was below the consensus estimate of 89 cents per share, its 2013 guidance remains unchanged at between $275 and $3.25 per share. Its shares were up 91 cents to $41.55.
Paper and forest product company Domtar Corp. reported Thursday that its adjusted earnings were $33 million or 95 cents per share, down from $61 million or $1.65 a share a year earlier. The adjusted profit was 47 cents short of a consensus estimate of $1.42 per share and its shares fell $5.37 to $70.91.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was stronger by 8.96 points to 960.66
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon, led by metals and mining stocks, up 3.2%, information technology, up 2.1%, and materials, gaining 1.9%.
The two laggards were telecoms, down 0.2%, and financials, sliding 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
A better-than-expected jobless claims report gave U.S. stocks a boost Thursday, as investors digested another influx of earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 65.73 points to break for lunch at 14,742.
The S&P 500 index climbed 9.62 to 1,588.41. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite soared 25.43 points to 3,295.08
All three indexes are still up between 9% to 13% so far this year as individual investors tentatively step back in.
Exxon Mobil beat earnings forecasts but shares still fell in early trading. UPS also reported a jump in quarterly earnings.
Shares of Safeway tumbled nearly 17%, as investors focused on weaker-than-expected sales even though the grocer reported a higher quarterly profit.
Dow Chemical reported better-than-expected earnings, fueled by sales of agricultural products.
Shares of Zynga fell nearly 7%, a day after the online gaming company issued a gloomy forecast.
3M was the biggest drag on the Dow, after the company missed profit and revenue expectations and lowered its 2013 earnings outlook.
Amazon and Starbucks report their results after the close.
In other corporate news, Verizon Communications drew attention after Reuters reported the company had hired advisers to look at a possible $100-billion U.S. bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from Vodafone Group. Vodafone declined to comment.
General Electric edged higher, a day after finance subsidiary GE Capital decided to nix lending programs for gun purchases in the wake of last year'sNewtown massacre.
Economically speaking, the U.S. government announced that initial jobless claims dropped to 339,000 in the latest week, significantly lower than the 351,000 claims that economists were predicting.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury slumped a bit, raising yields to 1.72% from Wednesday’s 1.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 61 cents to $92.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $28.90 to $1,452.60 U.S. an ounce
